This year, for the first time, the number of entities cultivating cannabis with the approval of the US federal government will be more than one.
For decades, cannabis has been cultivated at the University of Mississippi and shipped to researchers across the country. Last month, the US Drug Enforcement Administration finalized regulations to allow for additional licenses, as Cannabis Wire reported, four years after the agency first announced it would do so. Those regulations take effect on January 19, after which the DEA will begin to issue licenses to entities that have applied.
The DEA has not yet indicated just how many licences it will issue, but, as Cannabis Wire has reported, several major companies want in. When the DEA first announced its plans, more than thirty applications came in, including from cannabis giant Canopy Growth to existing government-contractor Battelle. (It is not clear whether any of the companies that applied years ago have decided not to move forward.)
Now, Cannabis Wire has identified an additional thirteen applications that have rolled in after the DEA published the initial list in August 2019.
Here are the newer applicants:
