The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is preparing to publish a list of state-licensed medical cannabis businesses that applied in time for federal protections linked to the Trump administration’s partial rescheduling of cannabis, as first reported by Marijuana Moment.

A page launched on Wednesday said the list would show the states in applicants’ business addresses and whether they are dispensaries, manufacturers or distributors. It is to be updated daily once formally uploaded. For now the page linked only to a placeholder text file reading “TEST”. Marijuana Moment said the DEA removed the page shortly after the story was published, but that it had archived it first. DEA officials did not say when the list would go live.

What counts as a timely applicant

The page said the list could change as “Timely Applicants” are granted registrations, withdraw their applications or stop being considered timely for another reason. Marijuana Moment said the term appears to refer to businesses that applied within a 60-day window after the initial rescheduling announcement.

The rescheduling rule issued in April directed the DEA Administrator to process applications submitted within 60 days within six months. It said early applicants may lawfully operate under their state licences while their applications are reviewed.

That order, issued by Attorney General Todd Blanche, moved cannabis products regulated under a state medical cannabis licence, along with those approved by the Food and Drug Administration, from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. A DEA hearing that has recently finished taking testimony is considering broader rescheduling.

New forms and inspections

Days after the April order, the DEA began accepting registrations from medical dispensaries using a new form. Earlier this month it introduced specialised forms for manufacturers, distributors and analytical labs. Applicants must say whether they will handle medical or recreational cannabis, give state licensing details, and state whether they will work with cannabis, cannabis extract or naturally derived delta-9 THC. They must also answer questions about the criminal and disciplinary history of the business and key staff. Dispensaries that still wish to register can now use the standard DEA Form 224.

DEA staff are also inspecting dispensaries that have applied. Industry sources told Marijuana Moment that the approach varies between regional offices. Mississippi businesses said in June that they were among the first to be visited, and in August the outlet obtained 26 questions sent to Colorado businesses, which differed in many respects from those put to operators in Mississippi.

Dispute over staff with convictions

Nicole Huff, chief executive of the Wildflower Medical Dispensary in Aberdeen, told Marijuana Moment that a DEA official had told her two employees with past felony convictions posed a problem for the business’s application. She said the options were to dismiss them, withdraw the application, seek a waiver while losing expedited processing, or go before an agency judge. She said she will take the matter to a DEA judge.

Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, called the policy “really problematic” and “ridiculous”, and said records for nonviolent offences that are now legal should be expunged.

Why it matters in the UK

US federal drug policy is closely watched by the international cannabis industry. In the UK, cannabis remains a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, although specialist doctors have been able to prescribe cannabis-based medicines since 1 November 2018.