The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is defending its stance that a cannabinoid produced synthetically from components of the cannabis plant is federally illegal.
DEA issued a rule in May saying that while it had already considered hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) to be a Schedule I illegal substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the agency will now giving the compound its own unique drug code for classification.
Two hemp companies filed separate lawsuits challenging the move, however, and on Tuesday DEA filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in response to one of them—arguing that the company, Bluestar Operations, LLC, does not have standing to bring the case and, even if it did, it would fail on the merits.
HHC, the agency said, “is a synthetic hallucinogenic drug that for decades has been included in schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)” and has a similar chemical structure to THC, for which it has shared a DEA drug code until now.
Assigning the code does is “a technical change that has no substantive effect on HHC’s status as a schedule I substance,” DEA said.
“All the rule does is assign a tracking code to
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