DEA Publishes Notices for Three Companies Seeking to Import or Manufacture Marijuana, THC, and Other Marijuana-Related Substances

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published three new Federal Register notices today involving companies seeking federal registration to import or manufacture marijuana, marijuana extract, tetrahydrocannabinols and nabilone.

The notices, filed June 12 and scheduled for publication June 15, involve Cerilliant Corporation, Veranova, L.P., and VHG Labs DBA LGC Standards. While the filings are routine regulatory notices and are separate from the ongoing federal marijuana rescheduling process, they are notable because all three include cannabis-related substances at a time of heightened federal attention on marijuana policy and research.

Cerilliant Corporation, based in Round Rock, Texas, applied May 8 to be registered as an importer of numerous Schedule I and Schedule II substances, including marijuana and nabilone. According to the DEA notice, marijuana remains listed as a Schedule I substance (although FDA-approved and state-legal medical cannabis is now Schedule III), while nabilone is listed as Schedule II. The company plans to import the listed substances as bulk active pharmaceutical ingredients to support the manufacturing of analytical reference standards and distribution to research and forensic customers. The notice states that authorization would not extend to importing finished dosage forms, whether FDA-approved or non-approved, for commercial sale.

VHG Labs DBA LGC Standards, based in Manchester, New Hampshire, applied April 7 to be registered as an importer of controlled substances, including marijuana extract, marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols, all listed as Schedule I substances. DEA says the company plans to import the listed substances for distribution for analytical testing purposes, with no other activities authorized under the registration. The notice also states that authorization would not extend to importing finished dosage forms for commercial sale.

Veranova, L.P., based in West Deptford, New Jersey, applied May 14 to be registered as a bulk manufacturer of several controlled substances, including marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinols and nabilone. The company plans to bulk manufacture the listed substances for use as internal intermediates and for sale to customers, according to the notice. No other activities for the listed drug codes would be authorized under the registration.

For the importer applications, registered bulk manufacturers and applicants may submit comments, objections or hearing requests within 30 days of publication. For Veranova’s bulk manufacturing application, the comment and hearing request window is 60 days.

The three notices can be found by clicking here, here, and here (all PDFs).