NATIONAL NEWS

THE FEDS DEA WILL ALLOW MORE FACILITIES TO GROW CANNABIS FOR RESEARCH

Moving to end the University of Mississippi’s decades-long monopoly on supplying marijuana for U.S. research, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said in May it will soon issue licenses to a number of growing facilities, reports Science Magazine.

Since 1968, only one operation, located on the campus of Ole Miss, has been licensed to supply Cannabis to medical researchers who want to explore its value for treating conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain.

The DEA announced on its website that it had sent a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to three manufacturers that had applied for licenses to grow Cannabis for research studies.

The memos came six months after the agency published a final rule describing how exactly the program would work.

This could mark a huge shift after years of delayed license applications. Although consuming marijuana is legal for medical purposes in 36 states and for recreational use in 17 states, consumption remains a criminal offense under federal law.

“We were euphoric. This is a victory for scientific freedom,” said Dr. Sue Sisley, president and principal investigator at Scottsdale Research Institute, which received one of the DEA agreements to be able to grow Cannabis for research. In 2019, SRI sued the DEA to force it to end its years of delay in processing license applications.

CAPITALISM PHARMACY CHAIN RITE AID IS ‘LOOKING AT THE MARIJUANA BUSINESS’

Rite Aid CEO Hayward Donigan in May said that “everyone is looking at the marijuana business.” “There is complexity, but (we’re) certainly keeping an eye on it,” she said at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival. RITE AID HAS The pharmacy chain, based in Camp Hill, CARRIED Pennsylvania, has carried hemp-derived CBD PRODUCTS cannabidiol (CBD) products since 2019. SINCE 2019. Donigan said Rite Aid is looking at more homeopathic options in addition to traditional pharmaceuticals. He added that the chain has had all of its pharmacists recertified as integrative pharmacy specialists.

“Pharmacists are trained in alternative therapies,” Donigan said. “They are not just trained on traditional medicine.”

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additional Cannabis growing facilities will be authorized by the DEA. states currently allow the recreational use of Cannabis by adults. states now have medical Cannabis laws; 11 states have CBD-only laws. percent of Miss. residents favor a special session to reverse a block on MMJ. percent of Connecticut voters favor legalizing marijuana in a 2021 poll. percent of Americans say Cannabis should be legal for medical/rec, or both.

jun. 2021

STORIES by STEVE ELLIOTT, AUTHOR OF THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF MARIJUANA