Did the DEA just kick open the door for the pharmaceuticalization of pot?

The agency’s ultimate goal looks to be the domestic production of pharmaceutically produced medical cannabis products
Alternet (US)
Friday, August 12, 2016

med-marijuanaWhile much ink has been spilled over the last few days regarding DEA’s refusal to recognize marijuana as a medicine and its unwillingness to reclassify it under federal law, far less attention has been paid to a separate decision by the agency to create, for the first time, a “clear legal pathway” for pharmaceutical companies to engage in cannabis-specific “drug product development.” The DEA’s intent is articulated in the August 11 edition of the US Federal Register in a notice entitled ‘Applications to Become Registered Under the Controlled Substances Act to Manufacture Marijuana to Supply Researchers in the United States.’