Trulieve receives DEA registrations for medical marijuana dispensaries
The company confirms federal registrations but does not disclose how many dispensaries received them or identify their locations.
Adrian Kessler
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began issuing federal registrations to more than 900 state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries on Oct. 30. Trulieve Cannabis Corp. NYSETRLV confirmed on Monday that it received dispensary registrations after applying in April, when it reported more than 200 medical-only stores.
Trulieve's Nov. 2 announcement does not identify registered locations, states, certificate numbers or the number of registrations received. It confirms registrations for dispensaries without announcing equivalent decisions for manufacturing or distribution.
Trulieve is a large, vertically integrated U.S. cannabis operator with established medical marijuana businesses in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Shares rose 5.54 per cent to US$10.85 in New York at 9:37 a.m. EST on Monday, according to the NYSETRLV quote page on Google Finance. Its next scheduled financial update is Nov. 5.
Registration Brings Federal Inventory Duties
The Justice Department's Oct. 30 notice, numbered 26-1276, describes the registrations as the first phase under the attorney general's April 23 order. Each recipient had to meet federal requirements and successfully complete a DEA pre-registration investigation.
"Registered dispensaries will be subject to applicable federal requirements, including security, recordkeeping, inventory controls, and other safeguards governing the handling of controlled substances," the Justice Department said in its Oct. 30 release.
DEA's Oct. 30 guidance under 21 CFR 1301.13(k)(7) also requires attention to suppliers' status. Its due-diligence steps include obtaining registration certificates or application confirmations, verifying application control numbers and active state licences, and retaining the checks.
Transactions with entities outside the permitted categories could provide grounds to revoke a registration or deny an application, the guidance says. Registered entities must also maintain the records required for Schedule III controlled substances.
Registration follows a transition period in which qualifying applicants could already conduct covered medical transactions. DEA says applicants that submitted complete applications and paid fees between April 28 and June 26 can continue permitted activities while their applications remain pending, provided they retain the required state licence.
Those qualifying applicants can transact with registered businesses and other qualifying applicants. A registered dispensary can therefore receive supplies from a qualifying distributor whose application remains pending.
Manufacturers and distributors face additional review, including facility inspections, production controls and quota determinations, DOJ said. Trulieve's dispensary announcement does not establish the outcome of those separate reviews for its vertically integrated operations.
Florida Footprints Do Not Establish Registration Counts
The initial federal registrations span seven states: Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Trulieve identifies medical operations in Florida and West Virginia, but its release does not allocate its registrations between them or say every medical location is covered.
Read more: Trulieve Cannabis says all stores are open after weather disruptions
Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. TSECURA OTCMKTSCURLF also operates in Florida, where its Oct. 14 Wellington opening announcement counted 79 dispensaries. That footprint establishes exposure to the medical market, without establishing receipt of any particular DEA registration.
DOJ said the framework does not authorize recreational marijuana sales. Marijuana outside the order's scope remains subject to Schedule I controls, while broader rescheduling proceeds through a separate administrative process.
Read more: DOJ and petitioners seek February briefing deadline in rescheduling case
Trulieve's next dated event is its third-quarter results call on Nov. 5 at 8:30 a.m. EST. Management is scheduled to review financial and operating results, providing the next account of business performance following the registration announcement.
