The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded Sarah Kowitt, PhD, MPH, and Leah Ranney, PhD, MA a five-year, R01 grant to continue their research on best practices for cannabis warning labels. Their research was previously supported by a 2022 planning grant from the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.
Drs. Kowitt and Ranney previously found that existing U.S. cannabis warning labels are largely ineffective in educating consumers about health risks.
“The HPDP planning grant was instrumental in enabling us to dive into this important research area,” said Dr. Kowitt. “The results of our initial study helped us demonstrate the need for additional research on this topic, which the National Institute on Drug Abuse recognized with this R01 grant,” said Dr. Ranney.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is housed within the National Institutes of Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The current R01 grant will help Drs. Kowitt and Ranney expand their research to all U.S. states in which cannabis is legal. The researchers plan to develop and test best practices for cannabis warning labels (e.g., larger fonts, icons) to increase consumers’ awareness of potential risks associated with cannabis use.
Drs. Kowitt and Ranney will conduct this research over the coming years and will share their results with state regulators to inform cannabis warning label policies.
Dr. Sarah Kowitt, PhD, MPH is an assistant professor in the department of family medicine in the UNC School of Medicine. Her primary research interests are substance use prevention in youth and young adults.
Dr. Leah Ranney, PhD, MA is professor in the department of family medicine in the UNC School of Medicine as well as the director of the UNC Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program (TPEP). She primarily conducts tobacco prevention and regulatory science research.