Research Library

From 2020 to 2023, sales of hemp-derived cannabinoids increased by 1,283%, reaching a value of $2.78 billion last year. Although the Texas hemp industry is booming, lack of regulation poses risks to public health. A new brief from the Drug Policy Program makes specific recommendations for strengthening and enforcing current laws — ensuring consumer safety while also providing economic benefits for the state.

Qualities like amazing tensile strength and electrical conductivity offer a huge range of uses for carbon nanotubes. In a new policy brief, fellow Rachel A. Meidl and her co-authors Dana Goerzen and Daniel A. Heller explain that to ensure carbon nanotubes’ role in a circular, sustainable economy, a coordinated system for classifying, testing, and identifying CNTs and a life cycle approach to risk assessments are needed to better understand impacts to facilitate consistent communication among researchers, industries, and policymakers.