DEA Opens Comment Window on Cannabis Research Import Application

Biopharmaceutical Research Company has applied to the Drug Enforcement Administration for registration to import marijuana, marijuana extract, and tetrahydrocannabinols, all Schedule I substances, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on August 25, 2026. The Castroville, California, company filed the application on July 14, 2026, and says the imported material would support analytical chemistry work, research, and the manufacture of dosage forms for preclinical and clinical trials.

The DEA notice lists three basic classes of controlled substances: marihuana extract, marihuana, and tetrahydrocannabinols, each in Schedule I. The company described the material it wants to bring in as flowering plants and cannabis derivatives. Registration as an importer would authorize only those activities; the notice states that no other activities for these drug codes are covered.

The application is not yet granted. Registered bulk manufacturers of the affected drug classes, and applicants for that status, may submit electronic comments or objections to the proposed registration by September 24, 2026. The same deadline applies to filing a written request for a hearing on the application.

What the Application Would and Would Not Allow

The notice is explicit about the registration’s limits. Approval of import permits would occur only when the registrant’s business activity fits the federal statute governing controlled-substance imports. The authorization would not extend to importing finished dosage forms, whether FDA-approved or not, for commercial sale.

That carve-out matters because it confines the registration to the research supply chain. The company could import raw plant material and derivatives for laboratory analysis and for manufacturing dosage forms used in trials; it could not use the registration to bring in finished cannabis medicines for the commercial market.

A Repeat Filing From an Established DEA Registrant

This is not the company’s first trip through the DEA’s registration process. A nearly identical importer notice for the same company, at the same Castroville address, was published in the Federal Register on September 11, 2025, after a June 30, 2025, application. That notice listed the same three drug classes, the same Schedule I placement, the same stated purpose of analytical chemistry, research, and dosage-form manufacturing, and the same exclusion of finished dosage forms for commercial sale.

The company already holds a DEA registration as a bulk manufacturer of Schedule I controlled substances. The DEA’s notice of that registration, dated June 26, 2021, records that the agency granted the registration after inspecting and testing the company’s physical security systems, verifying compliance with state and local laws, and reviewing the company’s background and history. No comments or objections were submitted on the earlier application notices that preceded that grant.

The company appears on the DEA’s list of approved bulk manufacturer marihuana growers, which the agency maintains alongside the rules governing cultivation of marijuana for research. It is also one of seven providers of cannabis and cannabis products for research that the National Institutes of Health describes on a resource page for the research community. The NIH summary, provided by the company and not independently verified by NIH, says Biopharmaceutical Research Company can supply cannabis-based therapeutics and active pharmaceutical ingredients, with current products including high-potency THC and CBD extracts at 50 to 75 percent and high-potency cannabis flower for animal and preclinical research.

How the Research Supply Framework Works

The DEA finalized rules in December 2020 governing who may grow marijuana as a bulk manufacturer for research and how that marijuana is bought and sold. Under that framework, cultivation or purchase of marihuana for research or other licit purposes requires a DEA registration, either as a manufacturer or as a researcher. The program operates through a quota system in which growers furnish supply agreements with DEA-registered buyers, and DEA itself takes ownership of harvested crops before distribution.

Importer registrations like the one Biopharmaceutical Research Company is seeking sit alongside that domestic cultivation framework. Where the grower rules govern marijuana produced inside the United States, an importer registration covers material brought in from outside the country, subject to the same scheduling controls and the statutory limits on what the imports may be used for.

What Happens Next

The comment and hearing-request window closes September 24, 2026. If no hearing is requested and the DEA determines the registration is consistent with the public interest and U.S. treaty obligations, the agency may grant the registration. The DEA’s 2021 grant of the company’s bulk-manufacturer registration came after earlier application notices drew no comments or objections.