FIU Professor Launches Global Initiative to Study Benefits of Cannabinoids

Ana Cedeno / Contributing Writer

An FIU professor partnered with leading state and national hemp affiliates to study the medicinal benefits of cannabinoids, and students can help.

Jeff Konin – director of the newly formed Global Initiative for Cannabinoid Research and Education – began the program this year in collaboration with students of nursing and health sciences.

“We are testing various forms of cannabis and we’re studying anxiety, pain and sleep as an example to see how either cannabis oils or cannabis gummies or cannabis topicals can interact with individuals,” said Konin, who also serves as director and clinical professor of FIU’s Doctor of Athletic Training program – the first of its kind in the Southeast.

Supporters of the study include FIU’s College of Medicine Dean Orla L. Strickland, Cannabis News Florida and Sunflora Inc, a national hemp production company.

The study asks students to apply a cannabis-based oil for one to thirty days. During this time, they will report every morning about the effects they are experiencing.

“This doesn’t contain THC, which is the part of the plant that gives you that high so it’s perfectly legal,” said Konin – founder of PHD420, INC, a nonprofit company specializing in cannabis education and research.

They would then analyze the results to find which products work best for which mental and physical conditions, as well as possible side effects.

In order to fight negative stigmas associated with cannabis, Konin emphasized the importance of educating others on the herb’s various components, called cannabinoids.

“Only one of the cannabinoids, THC, is the part of the plant that gives you that high. Our goal is to look at as many parts of the plant and as many cannabinoids as we can study, and then educate people.”

He said his background in athletic training – recognized by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame and the American College of Sports Medicine – inspired him to start the study.

Within his specialization, he learned how cannabinoids could treat pain, and developed a national Cannabis Healthcare Educator Certificate program.

He added that despite cannabis use being a controversial issue, associations such as the National Football League and the Olympics plan to loosen drug and herbal policies.

“That’s the population of people that we specialize in treating so we have an obligation to learn about this,” said Konin. “We simply took the obligation one step higher so that we can be a part of studying it and leading the way in the research that we find to then help others become educated.” 

He hopes his study will mark a renewed interest in understanding the effects of cannabinoids.

“We want to know if there’s truly a positive effect of utilizing various applications of cannabis or if there are side effects that haven’t been reported yet because there’s always risk associated,” said Konin.