The Trump administration touts its cancellation of federal grants for a study that examines cannabis use among LGBTQ+, nonbinary and heterosexual women.
The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, announced on Tuesday that it had eliminated a number of National Institutes of Health grant funds, including marijuana research.
DOGE announced on X (owned by Musk) that “NIH has cancelled these grants today.” Of those grants, one was described as “$699K for studying ‘cannabis use’ among ‘sexual minority gender diverse individuals.'”
The research is not described in a very nuanced way. Instead, it focuses on the risk factors of cannabis use disorder among “sexual minority and gender diverse people” (SMWGD), as well as heterosexual females.
Today, @NIH The following grants have been cancelled:
– $620K for “an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys”
– $699K for studying “cannabis use” among “sexual minority gender diverse individuals”
– $740K for examining “social networks” among “black and…— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 12, 2025
Researchers from Ohio State University sought to determine “similarities or differences between the effects of risk factors that are shared by all individuals.” [cannabis use, or CU] NIH says that they will “determine if there are differences between the CU trajectories of these two groups and identifies unique risk factors associated with SMWGD”
Sexual minority women are more likely to develop cannabis use disorders (CUDs) than other women. The disparity between the two has grown in recent years. But little is understood about how this risk unfolds on a day-to-day basis for these women.
After previously being awarded $715.244, researchers were to receive funding of $699.139.
Christina Dyar, the lead researcher at MEDCAN24 who was contacted for a comment but not available immediately.
This funding cut fits a trend that has emerged during President Donald Trump’s second term. Research and expenditures related to gender identity initiatives are increasingly being targeted.
Musk and his DOGE team had hoped to reduce costs rather than stifle cannabis research by focusing on agencies, such as Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), that perpetuate marijuana criminalization. We will have to wait and see if DEA continues to resist any significant funding cuts or staff reductions.
The revelation comes in the wake of a leaked memo that revealed “marijuana is” one of more than two dozen “controversial topics or high profile issues” which staff at the National Cancer Institute are required to discuss with superiors before they write about them.
In the government’s directive, marijuana and opioids are listed along with COVID-19 vaccines, fluoride and measles vaccinations, autism and diversity, as well as other topics that Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. both consider to be important.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently urged Musk to target “unnecessary” federal enforcement against marijuana consumers and businesses as a key way to reduce spending by the federal government.
Musk, meanwhile, raised eyebrows when he said that he thought it was a great idea to have federal employees undergo drug testing as part of his push to reduce government agencies and expenditures.
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