The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is resisting two hemp companies’ efforts to challenge its determination that a cannabinoid produced synthetically from components of the cannabis plant is federally illegal.
DEA issued a rule last month 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.
That move is being contested in separate lawsuits from hemp businesses that say the agency’s decision is “unlawful.”
In addition to filing petitions for review, the companies are also asking federal courts to issue a stay blocking the agency’s action while the lawsuits proceed.
DEA, in briefs filed in the cases this week, argued that each petitioner “fails to meet any of the factors required to show that a stay pending review would be warranted.”
“The rule does not affect HHC’s previous status as a schedule I substance—all it does is separately list HHC and give it a separate drug code,” the agency’s briefs said.
“With or without the final rule, HHC is a schedule I controlled substance. Thus, even if this Court were to stay the final
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