The Drug Enforcement Administration has not approved any applications to grow marijuana for research purposes since it announced its intention to do so a year ago.
The DEA announced in August 2016 that it would look into approving new facilities to grow pot plants. Since then, 25 applications have been submitted, but a DEA spokeswoman told STAT News on 24 July that all were still under review with no timeline for a decision.
Marijuana is already used to treat a raft of medical problems from chronic pain to anxiety. A total of 29 US states and the District of Columbia allow the drug to be sold to patients with a doctor’s approval. But the federal government still lists it as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning that it has no accepted medical use. For years, the DEA has only licensed one facility for growing the plant, in Mississippi.
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