The DEA’s medical marijuana registration portal opened on April 29. By the morning of May 2, nearly 400 businesses had signed up. Operators are racing a June 26 deadline that unlocks a six-month review timeline, the right to keep operating during pendency, and the end of 280E for Schedule III medical cannabis. The federal medical cannabis market just opened for business.
The Drug Enforcement Administration opened its Medical Marijuana Dispensary Registration Portal at 12 p.m. Eastern on April 29. Three days later, nearly 400 businesses had signed up. The portal is the first concrete piece of federal infrastructure built for state-licensed medical cannabis operators in U.S. history, and the industry is treating it that way.
Per Marijuana Herald, the portal had at least 391 sign-ups as of the morning of May 2. The system charges $794 annually, payable nonrefundably via PayPal (DEA says other payment methods are coming). It requires seven sections of disclosure including personal and business information, ownership, state licenses, supplier identification, security infrastructure and criminal history. Applicants are paying just to start the application, with no guarantee of approval.
They are paying anyway, because of what is on the other side.
By the numbers
The DEA medical marijuana portal in its first 72 hours.
391
Sign-ups in the first three days
$794
Annual application fee, nonrefundable
June 26
Deadline to file under the 60-day expedited window
6 mo.
DEA response time guaranteed for early filers
Sources: DEA, Department of Justice, Foley Hoag LLP analysis.
The June 26 deadline is the real story
The portal opened on the heels of the Department of Justice’s April 23 Final Order, which immediately placed cannabis “subject to a state medical marijuana license” in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, alongside FDA-approved cannabis products. The order was published in the Federal Register on April 28. That date matters because it started the clock on a 60 …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
