The feds have registered their first medical cannabis dispensaries, more than 900 across seven states. For the nearly 7,000 businesses still waiting, the DEA just drew a line: buy and sell only within the system, starting November 29.
For the first time, the federal government has registered state-licensed medical cannabis dispensaries to operate under federal law.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued registrations to more than 900 dispensaries in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia, the Department of Justice announced Friday. DOJ called it “the first phase of implementing” the April order that moved state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III.
“The American people deserve access to the best medical treatments in the world,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the announcement. “The regulated distribution of medical marijuana by the applicants that have been granted registration by the Drug Enforcement Administration will help ensure broader access to chronic pain treatment and the safety of the American people.”
He added that the department “will continue prosecuting illegal marijuana trafficking and related criminal activity in accordance with federal law.”
A License Isn’t a Registration
The first batch went to dispensaries that applied during the 60-day window for expedited review that opened after the April order. “State licensure alone does not automatically grant federal registration,” DOJ said. Registered dispensaries will be subject to federal requirements for “security, recordkeeping, inventory controls, and other safeguards governing the handling of controlled substances.”
DEA will keep processing dispensary applications in phases. Applications from manufacturers and distributors, which the agency began accepting on new forms this month, need more review, including facility inspections, production controls and quota determinations.
The line is long. A DEA list published Friday shows 6,983 applicant locations that applied on time, including more than 4,000 dispensaries, more than 2,000 manufacturers and about 700 distributors, Marijuana Moment reported. Oklahoma leads with 2,442 entries, followed by Florida with 812 and California with 771. The list identifies each location’s state and business type, but not the company behind it.
The November 29 Deadline
The bigger change for most operators came in a separate four-page DEA guidance document, also released Friday, as reported by Marijuana Moment.
Businesses that applied on time, which DEA calls “Timely Applicants,” can keep doing business with one another and with newly registered companies while their applications are pending. But only with them. “If a Timely Applicant or DEA registrant engages in schedule III medical marijuana activities with someone other than a Timely Applicant or DEA registrant, such conduct could be potential grounds for denial of a Timely Applicant’s application or revocation of a certificate of registration,” the guidance says.
Operators have until November 29 to verify their trading partners and build what DEA calls “compliant supply chains.” The agency expects them to collect each partner’s DEA submission confirmation or certificate of registration, check its active state license and keep records of that due diligence. Inventory acquired before the guidance, including from businesses that don’t qualify, can still be sold.
The guidance also carves out an exception for state-mandated lab testing. Because few labs are DEA-registered, the agency said it “does not intend to penalize” businesses that send de minimis quantities to a non-registered lab in the same state for testing, as long as they keep detailed records and using a registered lab would violate state law.
None of this applies to adult-use cannabis, which remains in Schedule I while a separate DEA hearing on broader rescheduling continues.
