The National Institute on Drug Abuse has been providing delta-9-THC and other cannabinoids to the research community for decades. The current interest in the potential therapeutic activities of the cannabinoids, particularly delta-9-THC, has increased the demand for the drug to investigate those formulations capable of delivering delta-9-THC in a pharmaceutically acceptable form. In the interest of making delta-9-THC available for research and development activities and to keep the cost of raw material at an economic level, this contract was initiated to take advantage of the delta-9-THC present in cannabis plant material available to NIDA through its other contract. Through this small business contract the NIDA wants to develop the methodology to extract, isolate, and purify delta-9-THC from NIDA grown cannabis plant material.
