The news has been chock-full of headline-inducing announcements about mass firings and cuts in the last weeks. These have come mostly from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Recently, a DOGE social media post shared that the National Institute of Health canceled a $699K cannabis research grant.
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Since his initial run for office, many have speculated where Donald Trump stands on cannabis reform. His camp has still not provided concrete feedback on the matter, though the office has made unprecedented moves in countless other industries–until now.
DOGE included the cannabis-related grant in the social media announcement about a batch of cuts related to LGBTQ+ topics. The department stated it cut “$699K for studying ‘cannabis use’ among ‘sexual minority gender diverse individuals’.” While technically true, that is a reductive assessment of the research that the grant was presumably funding.
Today, @NIH cancelled the following grants:
– $620K for “an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys”
– $699K for studying “cannabis use” among “sexual minority gender diverse individuals”
– $740K for examining “social networks” among “black and…— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 12, 2025
The full title of the Ohio State University (OSU) research project that matches the DOGE description is “Testing a multistage model of risk factors for cannabis use utilizing a measurement burst design among sexual minority women, sexual minority gender diverse individuals, and heterosexual women.” Christina Dyar is listed as the project director.
This research model was built to explore risk factors of cannabis use disorder in women, femmes, and non-binary people, according to the NIH project details. From the description, the grant seems less LGBTQ+-focused and more non-man-focused with a touch of weed. Neither Dyar nor OSU answered a request for comment before publishing.
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While this is the first specifically weed-related cut from DOGE and Elon Musk, the green of it all may have ended up on the chopping block unintentionally. Based on the previous cuts rooted in anti-diversity combined with the other grant funding pulled in the batch with this project–it seems this cut was more focused on reducing funding to women and Queer people than potheads.
There is no need to raise alarm in the cannabis world after this cut, but also, no sign of an ally in the new administration. As DOGE continues hacking away at School Nutrition Funding Programs and Trump orders the chopping of formerly protected old-growth forests, nobody seems safe–even weed.
