The DEA recently made several significant announcements regarding marijuana. Most importantly, the agency’s acting administrator has denied two separate petitions to reschedule marijuana. Under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana has a schedule 1 classification; this means that it has high potential for abuse, and no currently accepted medicinal use.
The agency also announced that it will allow more research facilities to cultivate marijuana, greatly expanding access to the drug for researchers. Until now, only the University of Mississippi has been allowed to cultivate and supply marijuana to researchers, so this change will help remove that bottleneck and hopefully expand our understanding of marijuana and its effects.