DEA Final Rule Gives Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) Its Own Schedule I Listing and Drug Code
- The DEA is creating a specific Schedule I listing and a new DEA drug code (7220) for hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), a substance already federally controlled under tetrahydrocannabinols.
- The new listing is an administrative change to facilitate production quotas and manufacturing permits, without altering HHC’s status as a Schedule I hallucinogen.
- HHC is classified as a synthetic cannabinoid related to tetrahydrocannabinols; hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinols exempted by the 2018 Farm Bill do not include synthetically produced variants like HHC.
- The DEA’s action aligns with a June 2025 UN decision to list HHC under Schedule II of the Psychotropic Substances Convention and is effective immediately without public comment due to its technical nature.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is moving to give hexahydrocannabinol, commonly known as HHC, its own specific listing under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, while emphasizing that the substance is already federally controlled.
The final rule, scheduled for publication Monday in the Federal Register, establishes a separate listing and DEA Controlled Substances Code Number for HHC. The agency said HHC is currently controlled under drug code 7370 because it meets the federal definition of tetrahydrocannabinols, which are Schedule I hallucinogens under federal law.
Under the rule, HHC will be listed in Schedule I as 6,6,9-trimethyl-3-pentyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol, with the new DEA drug code 7220.
DEA said the change “does not affect the continuing status” of HHC as a Schedule I substance. Instead, the agency described the action as an administrative change that will allow it to establish aggregate production quotas and grant individual manufacturing and procurement quotas to DEA-registered manufacturers.
The rule also states that HHC is a synthetic substance structurally related to tetrahydrocannabinols. DEA said the 2018 Farm Bill removed “tetrahydrocannabinols in hemp” from control, but that the exemption applies only to tetrahydrocannabinols in or derived from the cannabis plant. According to the agency, tetrahydrocannabinols produced through chemical conversion, even when hemp-derived, are considered synthetically produced and do not qualify as “tetrahydrocannabinols in hemp.”
The action follows a June 2025 notification from the United Nations that HHC had been added to Schedule II of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. DEA later informed the Department of Health and Human Services that it intended to specifically list HHC in Schedule I under treaty obligations.
HHS responded in December that there are no approved new drug applications or investigational new drug applications for HHC and said it agreed with the direct listing and drug code assignment.
DEA said it is bypassing public comment because the rule is technical in nature and does not change HHC’s legal status. The rule takes effect upon publication in the Federal Register.