According to a recent analysis conducted by the advocacy organization NORML, more than 4,000 papers in the field of marijuana research will be published worldwide in 2025. This is the fifth consecutive year that researchers have done so.
Since the start of 2015, researchers have published more than 37,000 papers on cannabis. The focus of these studies is “the therapeutic benefits of marijuana, as well investigations of the effects of the legalization law in real life.”
In a recent press release, NORML Deputy director Paul Armentano stated that “despite the perception of marijuana not being subjected to sufficient scientific scrutiny”, scientists have increased their interest in cannabis, along with their understanding of its active components, mechanisms of action and effects of both users and society.
“It is time for politicians and others to stop assessing cannabis through the lens of ‘what we don’t know’ and instead start engaging in evidence-based discussions about marijuana and marijuana reform policies that are indicative of all that we do know,” he said.
NORML used PubMed.gov’s keyword search to count all the publications. The advocacy group reported on Wednesday that PubMed cites “over 57, 000 scientific papers” on marijuana, dating as far back as 1840.
NORML reported that more than 70% of those publications were in the last decade. NORML said that more than 90% of the publications were made since 2002.
Published papers on cannabis are up compared to the trailing 10-year period analyzed last year, during which 32,000 publications came out. However, the record for 2022’s one year appears to have stood. More than 4,300 papers on cannabis were published that year.
The papers that were published over the past 12 months include reports about the decrease in cannabis use by youth in Canada following legalization. Other articles discuss the benefits to tourism for states who have legalized marijuana and on cannabis’ therapeutic properties in treating depression and anxiety.
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In several other studies, conducted as far back as 2025, marijuana and its ingredients were found to effectively reduce alcohol addiction and decrease cravings. In addition, this year researchers discovered that more Americans smoked cigarettes than used cannabis due to a shift in perceptions regarding the harms of both substances.
Scientists have also made progress in this past year in discovering new cannabinoids, such as the cannabielsoxa.
Scientists have hoped that a move of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III would ease the research barrier and allow them to explore further the benefits and risks of cannabis. Although President Donald Trump had said that this reform would take place within the next few weeks in August, nothing has happened yet.
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