Cannabis researcher moving to Worcester

Photo/Courtesy Marijuana is grown inside a sprawling New England Treatment Access facility in Franklin.

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By Zachary Comeau

Cannabis Community Care and Research Network, a state public benefit corporation in the cannabis industry, is moving to Worcester.

The organization said Friday it's moving to the city to better serve the industry, healthcare providers, patients and recreational customers.

“C3RN is excited to move our headquarters to Worcester,” said Marion McNabb, CEO of C3RN. “This strategic move will allow C3RN to work more closely with our partners in Central and Western Massachusetts to expand our cannabis research, community health, and education services within the industry.”

The organization did not say when it would be moving or where its headquarters would be.

The move follows suit with the Cannabis Control Commission, the state’s cannabis industry regulatory body, which is planning to move into Union Station.

Simultaneous to the Worcester announcement, C3RN announced the preliminary results from an ongoing cannabis science study. Among 1,325 Massachusetts respondents, 33 percent said they used cannabis most commonly for pain, followed by 26 percent for anxiety and 14 percent for depression.

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents said cannabis products helped to reduce their intake of prescription medicine. The most common type of medications included antidepressants (24 percent), narcotics or opioids (15 percent), muscle relaxers (14 percent) and non-opioid analgesics (16 percent).

When asked if cannabis helped deal with physical symptoms, 65 percent said it did. Another 71 percent said it helped with psychological problems and 75 percent said it just helped with their overall quality of life.

A peer-reviewed manuscript with more data is being developed by C3RN and UMass Dartmouth for submission to a scientific journal. C3RN will present this data and host workshops at the Harvest Cup at the DCU Center on Sunday.