Marijuana research faces countless hurdles, and researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder are trying to solve some of them by working out of a van: the CannaVan. According to Wired, due to the legal murkiness of Colorado state law against federal marijuana prohibition, research even in a legal weed state like Colorado is a challenge. Researchers can only use federally-developed marijuana, which is less potent than what’s found in dispensaries or on the street. To add some rigor to their research on both the detriments and medical benefits of different forms of cannabis, the UC Boulder team chooses commercial cannabis for its subjects. After the subjects buy the product on their own, the researchers drive them home, where the subjects smoke or otherwise ingest on their own, before returning to the van for tests. The CannaVan is the latest innovation in a field of research that has the odds stacked against it.
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