DEA proposes to expand cannabis research

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. federal agency responsible for combating drug trafficking and distribution in the United States, proposed new rules last week that would expand opportunities for scientific and medical research on the Cannabis.

The DEA had initially announced that it would increase the number of legal cannabis growers in 2016, prompting 37 different entities to submit registration applications to the agency. However, the DEA did not act on any of these applications, and announced in 2019 that it would establish new rules before new federally licensed growers are registered. Currently, only one institution at the University of Mississippi is authorized to produce cannabis for research purposes.

«The Drug Enforcement Administration continues to support further research on marijuana and its components, and we believe that registering more producers will advance the scientific and medical research already underway,» said declared Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the DEA, in a press release: «The DEA wants to register additional marijuana producers for federally authorized research and will continue to work with other relevant federal agencies to expedite the next steps.»

Under the proposed rules, the DEA would manage the distribution of cannabis grown for research. Growers would be required to sell their products to the agency, which would then resell them to researchers for approved studies. Currently, the agency’s sole cannabis grower supplies cannabis for research directly to researchers, without the DEA acting as an intermediary.

The DEA explains that this would bring it into compliance with United Nations treaties governing research on controlled substances. The agency stated that international regulations also require the DEA to be the sole importer of cannabis and cannabis resin for research purposes, although this requirement does not apply to approved medical cannabis products.

The memo from the DEA and the Department of Justice also explains that since 2017, the number of researchers authorized to conduct research on cannabis has increased by 58%. The agency also increased the quota for cannabis produced for research by 472 kilograms in 2017 to 3,200 kilograms in 2020.

The announced rule change will now enter a 60-day period during which the public can submit comments on the proposal. The DEA stated that the proposed rule change is «the latest and most significant step taken to increase the number of registered marijuana producers in the United States and underscores the federal government’s support for scientific and medical research on marijuana and its chemical components.»