DEA sued over “secret” document that caused cannabis research delays

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Alleged proof comes out that the federal agency was deliberately stalling on efforts to improve research

This situation surrounding the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) taking all the time in the world to authorize additional applications for research-grade cannabis cultivation is becoming quite a story with a lot of loose ends. Now, the federal agency is being taken again to court by some scientists who filed a lawsuit against the agency, wanting it to produce “secret” documents the plaintiffs claim have been used to delay the expansion of cannabis research. The lawsuit comes from Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI), one of the more than 30 companies that have applied with the DEA to lead cannabis research.

Everything started back in 2016 when the DEA announced that it was ready to take on applications for new growers of cannabis for research when the only authorized supplier at the time was the University of Mississippi. Following up on the announcement, there were nearly three years of absolute silence, which ended up with the DEA giving a less than satisfactory update a couple of months ago, resulting in the case being dropped by the courts. It was not until this month that the first official full draft of regulations had been published by the agency, though it is yet unclear what other steps will the DEA need to finally give approval to at least one more company.

Based on the lawsuit, when back in 2016 the DEA announced that it would take applications, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued, in secrecy, an opinion that said that there was no way that the DEA could carry out its responsibilities and, at the same time, comply with international treaty obligations. SRI is claiming a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) violation, and the case was filed in the US District Court for the District of Arizona last Wednesday.