DEA Leaves Dual-License Cannabis Operators Behind In Federal Registration Expansion

Federal Registrations Approved for Medical-Only States

The Department of Justice announced on Friday that it has given federal registration and protections to more than 900 medical cannabis businesses across the U.S. The approved businesses are all located in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Each of those states permits only medical cannabis, with recreational marijuana remaining prohibited. Virginia is the exception, having passed legislation this year to legalize adult-use marijuana sales, but it has not yet initiated licensing.

The registrations come with protections tied to the Trump administration’s federal cannabis rescheduling move. However, the Department of Justice is also refusing to extend such approvals to cannabis operators in certain states.

DEA Denies Minnesota Dual-License Operator

According to an order DEA officials sent to a marijuana business in Minnesota, the agency “cannot permit any applicant operating under” the state’s law to have access to federal protections. The order to show cause was signed by Cheri Oz, assistant administrator of DEA’s Diversion Control Division.

Specifically, DEA told In-Dispensary in Minneapolis that the state’s “dual-purpose marijuana license, permitting both medical and non-medical dispensing falls outside the recent promulgated definition of ‘state medical license'” in federal policy.

“For DEA to sanction or bestow the imprimatur of legitimacy upon such conduct by granting a registration would be inconsistent with the [Controlled Substances Act] as well as United States’ treaty obligations,” the order says.

Scope of the Federal Expansion

The Department of Justice’s announcement on Friday covered the more than 900 medical cannabis businesses approved in the seven states, all of which permit medical cannabis while recreational marijuana remains prohibited, except for Virginia, which has not yet initiated licensing under its adult-use law.

The DEA order to In-Dispensary indicates that operators holding licenses that permit both medical and non-medical dispensing fall outside the federal definition of a “state medical license” and therefore outside the protections accompanying the federal cannabis rescheduling move.

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