While 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., it is also refusing to extend such approvals to cannabis operators in certain states.
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 that come with the Trump administration’s federal cannabis rescheduling move.
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 to show cause that was signed by Cheri Oz, assistant administrator of DEA’s Diversion Control Division, says.
Minnesota’s “state regime fails to provide ‘robust protections’ against diversion, as non-medical use of marijuana remains prohibited under federal law,” the document, which was first reported by The Minnesota Star-Tribune, says.
DOJ announced on Friday that more than 900 medical cannabis businesses have been approved, and they are all located in the states of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each of those states only permits medical cannabis while recreational marijuana remains prohibited—with the exception of Virginia, which passed legislation to legalize adult-use marijuana sales this year but has not yet initiated licensing.
“By allowing the dispensing of marijuana for non-medical purposes concomitant with and under the same state license as dispensing for medical purposes, the State of Minnesota’s regime not only lacks ‘robust protections against diversion,’ but also lacks the capacity to achieve the public interest objectives underlying the CSA’s registration framework,” the order to In-Dispensary says.
“Registering an applicant with the state authority to dispense a controlled substance for non-medical purposes—constituting per se diversion under the CSA—would violate federal law and promote such other conduct which may threaten the public health and safety,” the agency said.
DEA also said it cannot grant registration to marijuana businesses in Minnesota because state law allows dispensing of medical cannabis to some patients without written certifications from doctors. Specifically, the state lets military veterans access medical marijuana “who merely submit their veteran identification and an attestation that the veteran has been diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition,” DEA said.
The federal agency’s order additionally says it cannot register the Minneapolis dispensary because Minnesota’s law “permits dispensaries to dispense synthetic marijuana products,” referring to hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The document says In-Dispensary can file a request for a hearing to dispute the decision within 30 days. It can alternatively submit a “corrective action plan.”
The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management told the Star-Tribune that DEA’s order “does not impact the state law that authorizes Minnesota’s medical cannabis and adult-use cannabis programs.”
“Medical cannabis remains available to patients in the state,” it said. “Minnesota is committed to fostering an equitable cannabis industry that prioritizes public health and safety, consumer confidence, and market integrity, and we believe our regulatory program can serve as a model for other states.”
That said, if marijuana businesses in states that permit dual-licensing for medical and adult-use cannabis are not able to access federal registration, they may miss out on benefits and protections that come with rescheduling.
Meanwhile, however, a DEA hearing that recently concluded testimony is considering broader marijuana rescheduling beyond medical cannabis.
That said, there are no written certifications from doctors under state recreational marijuana programs—so it’s unclear if and how adult-use businesses could receive federal registration status even if broader rescheduling is adopted, given DEA’s stance on Minnesota’s law allowing veterans to access medical cannabis without such certifications.
Read DEA’s order to the Minnesota marijuana business below:
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
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