Western Canada now has its first professor of cannabis science.
Dr. M-J Milloy, is a recognized leader in the field of epidemiology and the first Canopy Growth professor of cannabis science at the University of British Columbia.
UBC is creating a new professorship to study the potential role of marijuana to treat opioid addiction, funded by the provincial government and one of the cannabis industry's biggest players.
Initially, this professorship will lead clinical trials to explore the role cannabis can play in helping people with opioid-use disorder stay on their treatment plan.
In the first nine months of 2018, an estimated 1,143 people died of a suspected opioid overdose in British Columbia.