Marijuana, Prescription Opioid, or Prescription Benzodiazepine Drug Use Among Older Adults (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 061

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 061

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity announcement PA-18-061, titled "Marijuana, Prescription Opioid, or Prescription Benzodiazepine Drug Use Among Older Adults (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)," supports research on drug use in adults age 50 and older, an area where major gaps still exist despite decades of progress in substance use disorder science. The core purpose is to deepen understanding of both why older adults use marijuana, prescription opioids, and/or prescription benzodiazepines and what happens to the brain, behavior, and health outcomes when they do. The announcement is intentionally broad and encourages projects that are innovative and mechanistically informative, rather than simply descriptive, with the goal of producing findings that can inform risk identification and better clinical care for aging populations.

A key emphasis is on studying two different older-adult trajectories that may have very different causes and consequences. The first group includes people with earlier onset drug use who are now aging into later adulthood, bringing decades of exposure, cumulative health burden, and long-term neurobiological change into the picture. The second group includes people who begin using these substances after age 50, where drivers may include new medical problems, pain, insomnia, anxiety, bereavement, social isolation, changing prescribing patterns, or shifts in legal access to cannabis. By explicitly calling out these two populations, the FOA signals that it values research designs capable of separating long-term, life-course effects from late-onset initiation factors, and of identifying whether risks, mechanisms, and intervention points differ across these pathways.

The research scope spans determinants, mechanisms, and consequences. On the determinants side, applicants are encouraged to examine biological, psychological, social, and health-system factors that contribute to use or misuse, including the role of comorbid medical conditions, psychiatric symptoms, cognitive changes, and medication regimens common in older adulthood. On the mechanisms and outcomes side, the FOA highlights interest in neurobiological alterations associated with these drugs in the aging brain and how those changes relate to behavior and real-world functioning. This can include work on cognition, affect, reward processing, pain, sleep, decision-making, and the interaction between aging-related brain changes and drug-related neuroadaptations. It also encourages examination of public health consequences, which can cover outcomes such as falls and injuries, driving impairment, overdose risk (especially where opioids and benzodiazepines are combined), medication interactions, healthcare utilization, disability, and broader impacts on families and communities.

Methodologically, the announcement is flexible and welcomes a wide range of approaches. Applicants can propose basic science studies, clinical research, and epidemiological work, including observational cohorts, secondary analyses of large datasets, translational studies connecting biomarkers to clinical outcomes, and, where appropriate, clinical trials (not required, hence "clinical trial optional"). This breadth is meant to stimulate cross-disciplinary work that can connect levels of analysis, for example linking prescribing patterns and social determinants to individual behavioral outcomes, or tying neuroimaging and cognitive testing to patterns of marijuana or medication use in older adults. The overall expectation is that funded projects will generate insights that clarify risk factors and causal pathways, not just document prevalence.

This opportunity uses the NIH R01 mechanism, meaning it is intended for substantial, hypothesis-driven research projects with enough scope to make a significant contribution to the field. It is categorized as a discretionary grant, aligned with health and education-related funding activities, and associated with CFDA numbers 93.279 and 93.866. The original posting date listed is November 3, 2017, and the original closing date shown in the source is May 7, 2020 (applicants would typically verify current submission dates and any reissues or updates through NIH systems before preparing an application).

Eligibility is broad and includes many organization types across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses; and other categories. The FOA also explicitly notes additional eligible applicant groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, AANAPISI institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This broad eligibility aligns with the FOA's public health focus and the reality that older-adult substance use research often benefits from partnerships across healthcare systems, community organizations, and diverse populations.

In practical terms, the announcement is trying to move the field toward a clearer, evidence-based understanding of how marijuana, prescription opioids, and prescription benzodiazepines fit into the lived medical and social context of aging. It prioritizes work that can tease apart late-life vulnerabilities, identify who is at greatest risk of harm, characterize brain and behavioral effects that may be unique to older adults, and ultimately support more informed prevention strategies, prescribing practices, screening approaches, and treatment decisions tailored to people over 50.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Marijuana, Prescription Opioid, or Prescription Benzodiazepine Drug Use Among Older Adults (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279, 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-05-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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