DEA increases cannabis quota available for public use by 5 times for 2019

Each year, the DEA, the US anti-drug agency, establishes quotas for controlled substances to determine the quantity available for the country's medical, scientific and industrial research needs. This quantity also includes exports, as well as the establishment and maintenance of reserve stocks, but not private industry. The DEA comes to announce its quota for cannabis production in 2019: it has been increased more than fivefold, from 444 kilos in 2018 to 2,450 for next year.

Signs of the politicization of cannabis

This significant increase could mean that the DEA, which has long fought against any form of cannabis consumption, is now softening its stance in view of the growing interest in the plant on the part of the general public, as well as the political and scientific spheres. The DEA had already attempted to facilitate researchers' access to the plant by attempting to authorize the National Institute of Drug Abuse to grant licenses to new producers. Since 1968, the monopoly on cannabis production for public purposes, including research, has been held by a University of Mississippi farm. Scientists had complained that poor product quality and the difficulty of obtaining authorizations from the producer. This process had been blocked by Jeff Sessions' administration.

Last month, eight senators sent a letter to a letter to Jeff Sessions to urge him to authorize the process of accepting applications from new producers (already issued) as initiated by the DEA. In the face of political pressure, Jeff Sessions had declared that it was «healthy» to authorize increased production for scientific research purposes, but so far nothing further had been done. The DEA's increase in quota could, however, mean that the process is about to be unblocked, as the Mississippi farm is unable to support such production on its own.

The DEA's large-scale production could be used to develop a public database on scientific and medical research on the plant, on which political decisions would be partly based. Once the official publication of the annual quota for 2019 has been established, public comments are allowed for a period of 30 days, after which the agency will finalize its potentially amended proposal.

Parallel reduction in opioid quotas

At the same time, in the context of the current crisis in the United States, the DEA has proposed reduced quotas for a number of opioids: «We have lost too many lives in the opioid epidemic», laments the agency. However, this crisis comes at a time when the potential of medical cannabis is growing, as it is emerging as an effective alternative in the treatment of a large number of pathologies, and even in the treatment of pain. Legitimized by in-depth medical research, cannabis could replace traditional painkillers.

Jeff Sessions, U.S. Attorney General known for his anti-cannabis stance and his repeated opposition to any federal initiative that supports cannabis in any way, admits that the opioid crisis is «the worst drug crisis the U.S. has ever seen» and welcomed the 10% reduction in the current quota. But still does not recognize cannabis as an alternative medicine.