17 December 2016
Here’s an extract from the Cannabist peice
Read the full article at http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/12/15/dea-cbd-new-rule-marijuana-extracts/69550/
The Cannabist spoke with the DEA in addition to compliance and industry experts about concerns for the budding legal cannabis and hemp industries.
In an e-mail to The Cannabist on Thursday morning, DEA spokesman Russ Baer stated that the final rule notice — the result of a proposed rulemaking measure put into motion in 2011 — is primarily an administrative move and does not reflect a change in any control status:
“The gist of the issue is that DEA established a new drug code for marihuana extracts as a means to more accurately reflect the activities of scientific research and provide more consistent adherence to the requirements of the Single Convention. We have not changed any control status with this Federal Register Notice. Everything remains schedule I, so no other provisions of the law (registration, security requirements, research protocols, etc.) change. Companies will simple [sic] use a new code for extracts.”
In a follow-up phone interview, Baer said the code would allow the DEA’s internal accounting mechanisms to be more accurate to track elements such as scientific and medical research. Researchers use the codes to identify which substance is subject to the project.
“(The rule change) recognizes that there is a potential medical benefit to some of the cannabinoids,” he said.
Baer added that there was no broader conspiracy at play and no connection to the presidential transition taking place.
“It’s not intended to be speculative (and) doesn’t read into anything that we’re looking at in the future,” he said. “It’s just a final order on a rulemaking proposal that was initiated back in 2011.”
Although those who ship CBD oil would be in violation of federal law, Baer said the federal register note does not change the DEA’s enforcement priorities, which Baer spoke to in August when discussing the DEA’s decision to maintain marijuana as a Schedule I substance
Read more at the link above
