The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is a component of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH). Originally created in 1991, NCCIH is now an essential online resource of cannabis information as well as a major funder of cannabis clinical trials.
At Best Dosage, we sometimes use NCCIH as a source. Learn why.
NCCIH quick facts
1. Created in 1991
2. Branch of the NIH
3. The major funder of cannabis research
4. Operates natural pain treatment research facility
5. Provides updates on natural health research and news
Big funder of cannabis research
From an admittedly simplistic perspective, NCCIH could be viewed simply as an instrument the US government uses to allocate taxpayer money to alternative health research. There’s a lot more to NCCIH than that, but there’s no denying that this NIH branch is essentially Uncle Sam’s natural health cash cow.
As a result, NCCIH and cannabis were bound to collide. After all, NCCIH primarily provides grants for research into natural substances that combat pain, natural substances that affect the mind, and the safety and effectiveness of particular natural health products.
Certain parts of cannabis have psychoactive properties, others appear to treat pain, and the market is already saturated with plenty of legal, semi-legal, and fully illegal cannabis products. Of course the NIH would want to know more about this substance.
These days, if researchers want to launch a cannabis-related investigation, NCCIH is the natural place to ask for funding first. Even if it doesn’t always loudly announce its role for everyone to hear, NCCIH has had a hand in almost every cannabis study conducted over the last few decades.
A vital component of the NIH
The National Institutes of Health is a sprawling component of the Executive Branch of the United States federal government. This vast bureaucracy organizes research into practically every health-related topic imaginable, and it cooperates closely with other agencies to determine domestic health policies.
Created to soften NIH’s ingrained allopathic tendencies with a tangential focus on natural health, NCCIH has undergone multiple reorganizations and escalations up the NIH hierarchy due to its unexpectedly pivotal role in national health discourse. NCCIH is now a powerful voice in Washington, and it’s capable of directing significant funding toward causes it deems worthy.
As a component of the federal government, we will never trust NCCIH quite as much as High Times, Leafly, or other platforms with their roots firmly planted in cannabis. It’s a fact, though, that this sub-agency is essentially “our man on the inside.” As NCCIH erases cannabis stigma from within, cannabis citizen journalists erase it from without, meeting somewhere in the middle.
An all-around proponent of medical cannabis research
Medical cannabis research would still be in its infancy if it weren’t for NCCIH. Over the last 30 years, this agency has funded countless cannabis-related studies, and it has even conducted a few cannabis studies of its own.
Thanks to NCCIH, researchers have been able to narrow down the potential side effects of THC, elucidate the pharmacology of CBD, and discover the potential benefits of other cannabinoids, terpenes, and additional components of cannabis’ complex chemical structure.
NCCIH’s efforts to fund cannabis studies have, in general, uplifted the status of cannabis research worldwide. By taking cannabis seriously and doing its best to get to the bottom of this plant’s natural benefits, NCCIH has propelled the cause of cannabis normalization along its way, leaving behind valuable insights into what cannabis is and how it works.
Great source of cannabis science news
Navigate to nccih.nih.gov, and you’ll find a website that’s clearly operated by the US government. Notably absent are edgy editorials and full-page banner ads featuring hi-res pictures of weed nugs.
As a result, the NCCIH website isn’t the right place to go if you want to catch up on the latest cannabis gossip or find reviews of an enticing strain. If you’re interested in learning more about the latest advancements in cannabis science, however, get it straight from the horse’s mouth at NCCIH.
This site has a modest educational content section, and it also provides news on the latest cannabis research efforts and cannabis-related government actions. You can use NCCIH’s search function to focus exclusively on this agency’s latest cannabis-related research efforts, funding actions, and events.
An overall indispensable cornerstone of the alternative health community
Once you recognize the critical role that NCCIH continues to play in the world of cannabis, you can’t help but respect this agency as a definitive source on cannabis science. If NCCIH hadn’t recognized the therapeutic potential of cannabis, many of the world’s most important cannabis studies would never have been funded, and the whole world would view cannabis in a less favorable light.
Every time that you confirm a potential benefit of cannabis by pulling up a study, NCCIH probably played a role in that information you just read. Whenever you wonder why cannabis research in the United States seems to be so relentlessly well-funded, look no further than NCCIH.
NCCIH overall score
While the NCCIH website serves an unusually specific purpose, this site’s authority and usefulness within its niche is utterly unimpeachable. As a result, we award NCCIH a perfect overall score of 5.0 out of 5.
Authority: 5.0/5
Clarity: 5.0/5
Sourcing: 5.0/5
Topics: 5.0/5
Community: 5.0/5
When it comes to cannabis science and the most recently discovered benefits of cannabinoids, there’s no source more definitive than NCCIH. Under the watchful eye of the US federal government’s endless swarm of lawyers, NCCIH keeps its web content spick-and-span, and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for on the NCCIH website.
Sourcing? NCCIH is the source. It’s the source of the funding for the cannabis studies that people around the world now cite to support the benefits of cannabis.
You won’t learn which CBD gummy is best for diabetes at NCCIH. What you will find, however, is the ultimate source of all of the most critical recent insights into the benefits and potential uses of cannabis. NCCIH has benefited and continues to benefit the American cannabis community in countless ways.
