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On December 18, 2020, just three days after the U.S. Senate adopted the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act (CMREA or the Act) (more on this below), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or the Administration) published in the Federal Register a final rule, “Controls To Enhance the Cultivation of Marihuana for Research in the United States” (Rule), which finally paves the way for DEA to issue additional licenses to grow “marihuana” (i.e., cannabis) for research purposes.
In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which, among other things, granted DEA the authority to regulate the cultivation of cannabis for research purposes. In the roughly 50 years since, the Administration has issued only one registration for the cultivation of research cannabis, to the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi, which is funded through a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) contract. The resulting supply chokehold has presented significant challenges for researchers and, in recent years, has been the subject of litigation. In its amended petition for a writ of mandamus to Attorney General William Barr, to Uttam Dhillon, Acting Administrator of DEA, and to the Administration itself, the Scottsdale Research Institute referenced the “low-quality government cannabis” from the University of Mississippi that “looks more like green talcum powder than medical grade cannabis” and is “tainted with extraneous material like sticks and seeds,” with many samples being moldy.