Marijuana regulators in Washington say that the Trump administration’s move to reschedule cannabis on the federal level “does not appear to apply” to businesses in the state.
The U.S. Department of Justice in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III. A hearing scheduled for later this month will consider more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III.
“Washington does not license medical cannabis producers, processors, or retailers,” the state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) said in guidance published on Tuesday. “Instead, Washington has a single recreational market and within that market producers/processors may manufacture [Department of Health]-compliant products, and certain retailers may sell DOH-compliant products to all adult patients and designated providers.”
“Because of this, Washington’s cannabis licensees do not appear to qualify as ‘state medical marijuana licensee[s]’ and therefore may not be eligible to register under the Final Rule,” the agency said, referring to a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration process for state-legal marijuana businesses to take advantage of federal benefits that come with the reform.
That said, LCB is “not taking a position to
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