DEA Requests to Grow 900 Pounds of Marijuana

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently recommended that the federal government should grow nearly 900 pounds of marijuana in 2015 for research purposes. An amount that is more than triple the amount it estimated it would need.

The DEA is attempting to increase the federal government’s marijuana production quantity from its estimated need of 276 pounds to 882 pounds. The agency said the government is in need of more marijuana due to the “unanticipated medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs of the United States.”

This is the second year in a row that the DEA requested an increase in marijuana production from what it had estimated it would need, which reflects the rising interest in researching marijuana. Last year, the agency was approved production of 1,433 pounds of marijuana.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse needs more of the plant “to provide for ongoing and anticipated research efforts involving marijuana” stated the DEA in its request to the government to produce more marijuana.

Last month the federal government awarded about $70 million over the next five years to the University of Mississippi for researching marijuana. Ole Miss is home to the federal government’s only marijuana garden. The award renews a contract the university has held for over 40 years.