According to a recent report from Atlanta-area news outlet 11Alive, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last month sent letters to pharmacies in Georgia telling them that selling medical cannabis products – in line with state law – runs counter to federal law.
“All DEA registrants, including DEA registered pharmacies are required to abide by all relevant federal laws and regulations. A DEA-registered pharmacy may only dispense controlled substances in Schedules II-V of the Controlled Substances Act. Neither marijuana nor THC can be lawfully possessed, handled, or dispensed by any DEA-registered pharmacy. Under federal law, products derived from the cannabis plant with delta-9 THC content above 0.3% are considered marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance. Further, products that contain any amount of a synthetically produced THC are considered tetrahydrocannabinols, likewise a Schedule I controlled substance.”
DEA Diversion Control Division letter via 11Alive
Some pharmacies in Georgia started dispensing low-THC cannabis oils in October under a first-in-the-nation state law.
Ira Katz of Little Five Points Pharmacy, who received a DEA letter, said the DEA policy “doesn’t make any sense … that people can go to a dispensary and not to a pharmacy.”
“We’re the most regulated industry in healthcare. That’s what shocked me,” he told 11Alive. “That’s what blows me away when it comes to why the DEA is not moving on this. They don’t see what we see here every single day.”
Katz added that he believes medical cannabis can “help contribute to slowing down” the state’s opioid crisis.
According to the report, neither the DEA nor Georgia Board of Pharmacy have commented on the letter. Below is a video published to YouTube by 11Alive regarding this story:
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