The US Drug Enforcement Administration is “moving forward” and “providing notice of pending applications from entities applying to be registered to manufacture marijuana for researchers.”
But before the agency will approve any of the applications, it says it wants to roll out new rules to evaluate potential new growers and ensure they conform to legal standards and relevant laws.
In the meantime, the DEA points out that the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 changed the federal definition of marijuana to exclude hemp, a strain of cannabis that contains CBD but has low levels of the psychoactive cannabinoid Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which gives cannabis-users a high. As such, hemp and hemp-derived CBD products that have 0.3% THC or less are not controlled substances, and as such “DEA registration is not required to grow or research” them.
