Report
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here’s a print of cannabis sativa hanging on the cork board next to Maxwell Leung’s office at asu’s West campus. On one of his first days on campus, Leung forgot his key, so he tracked down a campus security guard to unlock the door. As the two stood in the faculty hallway, the officer shot a look from the art print to Leung, insinuating some unspoken grief or, at the very least, confusion about the illicit plant adorning his office placard. The key turned. Leung entered his office and went about his day. It’s nothing new. Cannabis continues to be a point
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of contradiction. Recreational and medical marijuana sales bleed across the states at breakneck speed. Cannabis and hemp agriculture follow suit. But the plant itself remains federally illegal and seldom researched, creating undeniable blindspots in assessing potential risks. Leung, a toxicologist and assistant professor at asu, is most concerned with contaminants used in cannabis cultivation. There are no unified regulatory guidelines governing cannabis contaminants. And when left unchecked, pesticides, metals, solvents and other toxins pose health hazards to both recreational cannabis users and medi-
cal patients, especially those with susceptible neurological diseases. The lapse in understanding led Leung to create the Systems Biology and Toxicology Laboratory, a collaborative cannabis research effort encompassing three projects — one of which holds a coveted schedule I research permit, a license with the highest restrictions for storing, handling and testing a substance. The network of cannabis researchers spawned work on the neurotoxicology of contaminants and cannabinoids, the potential of contaminant exposure for Parkinson's patients using cbd and a comprehensive geospatial analysis of how cannabis and
