The US Drug Enforcement Administration has begun issuing federal registrations to more than 900 state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries across seven states under the Attorney General’s Schedule III order, the Department of Justice said on Friday.
The dispensaries are in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The department described the registrations as the first phase of implementing the order.
Registered dispensaries will be subject to federal requirements, including security, recordkeeping, inventory controls and other safeguards governing the handling of controlled substances, the department said.
It said state licensure alone does not automatically grant federal registration. Each dispensary had to complete the DEA’s pre-registration investigation before registration was issued.
The DEA is starting with dispensaries that applied within the initial 60-day period set by the order and that meet the applicable federal requirements. It will continue processing dispensary applications through a phased process.
Applications from medical marijuana manufacturers and distributors, which supply dispensaries, are still under review. The department said those applications require additional review, including facility inspections, production controls and quota determinations.
Under the order, qualifying manufacturers, distributors and dispensaries that applied within the initial 60-day period and whose applications remain pending may continue to engage in medical marijuana transactions with other qualified applicants and with newly registered entities, subject to the order’s requirements.
The department said the order covers defined medical marijuana activities and does not authorise recreational marijuana or other activities outside its scope. Marijuana not covered by the order remains subject to Schedule I controls.
The registrations implement the Attorney General’s order of 23 April, made under 21 U.S.C. § 811(d), which set a federal regulatory framework for qualifying medical marijuana businesses while keeping controls under the Controlled Substances Act.
The department’s announcement of that order said it was issued in accordance with President Trump’s executive order of 18 December 2025 on Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research. It placed FDA-approved products containing marijuana, and marijuana products regulated by a qualifying state medical licence, in Schedule III.
The department said Todd Blanche acted under the Attorney General’s authority to reschedule drugs to carry out US obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
The broader move from Schedule I to Schedule III is being handled separately. A notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on 21 May 2024, followed by a notice of hearing on 29 August 2024.
The DEA said it was withdrawing that earlier notice of hearing and terminating those proceedings to move more efficiently. It said a new hearing would begin on 29 June, under a new notice published in the Federal Register.
DEA administrator Terry Cole said at the time: “Under the direction of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche, DEA is expeditiously moving forward with the administrative hearing process, bringing consistency and oversight to an area that has lacked both.”
Blanche, now described as Attorney General, said the regulated distribution of medical marijuana by registered applicants “will help ensure broader access to chronic pain treatment and the safety of the American people.”
He added: “The Department of Justice will continue prosecuting illegal marijuana trafficking and related criminal activity in accordance with federal law.”
The department said the broader proposed rescheduling is being considered through a separate administrative proceeding under the Controlled Substances Act.