A DEA rule made public Thursday means researchers will be able to study marijuana from more than just one federally sanctioned grower.
Photo: Brad Horrigan/TNS/Zuma Press
WASHINGTON—The U.S. government is expanding the number of businesses that can grow marijuana for federally approved study after years of delay under the Trump administration.
A Drug Enforcement Administration rule made public Thursday means researchers will be able to study marijuana from more than just one federally sanctioned grower, a farm at the University of Mississippi, which the government has for decades considered the only legal source of marijuana for federal research.
“This action enables us to finally produce federally legal cannabis for scientists and doctors,” said George Hodgin, a former Navy SEAL who started his own business in Monterey, Calif., to conduct such research, calling the move “the most meaningful cannabis policy reform at the federal level in six decades.”
The DEA under President Obama began seeking applications for additional marijuana growers in August 2016, saying it wanted to expand research into the potential medical uses of marijuana as American society took a more tolerant view of its use. The agency at the time said it was complying with federal law in its push to expand the study of pot, which remains federally prohibited even as more states legalize it.
Forty-one applicants, including Mr. Hodgin, other entrepreneurs and a university professor, have submitted requests to grow marijuana for research since then, but their applications went unanswered under the Trump administration.
Justice Department officials including former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of marijuana use, concluded the DEA’s program violated a 1961 United Nations treaty that aimed to curb drug trafficking, prompting the agency to re-examine its rules.
DEA officials say the rules published this week are now consistent with that treaty, freeing the agency to begin processing applications from prospective growers. Those growers will be subject to a number of regulations aimed at preventing their supply from seeping into the black market.
“Today’s unprecedented action serves as a testament to the federal government’s support for scientific and medical research with marijuana and its chemical constituents, which could ultimately result in the development of additional marijuana-derived medicines approved by the FDA,” the DEA said in a statement, referring to the Food and Drug Administration.
Mr. Sessions said Thursday he supports expanded research.
Mr. Hodgin said he became interested in medical marijuana after a fellow veteran considered using it as part of his rehabilitation and found relevant research to be scarce.
“I’ve been advocating for years for this eventuality and our team is eager to be one of the first federally legal cannabis companies in the USA,” he said.
Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected]
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