The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has denied a long-pending application from Colorado-based MedPharm Research to become a federally registered bulk marijuana manufacturer, citing marijuana activity by affiliated companies, including participation in the state’s recreational market.
In a final decision scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on October 7, DEA said MedPharm Research’s parent company, MedPharm Holdings, and sister company MX, LLC, have manufactured marijuana without DEA registration for at least a decade.
MedPharm Research is wholly owned by MedPharm Holdings, which does business as Bud & Mary’s Cannabis. MedPharm Holdings also owns MX, and the same chief executive oversees both companies.
According to DEA, MX holds Colorado and Denver licenses to research, grow, manufacture and sell marijuana in the state’s recreational and medical markets and has been growing and selling marijuana since 2016.
MedPharm Research proposed conducting its federally registered operations at the same facility used by MX. DEA said the location has been used to grow medical and recreational marijuana that is sold to third-party dispensaries in Colorado.
The agency said manufacturing marijuana for the recreational market violates federal controlled substance laws and “constitutes diversion of a Schedule I controlled substance.”
DEA concluded that the activities of MedPharm Research’s parent and sister companies demonstrated a lack of prior compliance with federal controlled substance requirements and weighed against finding the proposed registration consistent with the public interest.
The application dates to 2016. DEA issued an Order to Show Cause seeking to deny the application in September 2025.
MedPharm Research did not request a hearing, file an answer or otherwise respond to the order. Under DEA regulations, the company was therefore found in default, meaning the factual allegations in the order were treated as admitted for purposes of the proceeding.
The decision comes as DEA implements a new federal framework for state-licensed medical marijuana businesses following marijuana’s placement in Schedule III under certain circumstances.
DEA noted that rules finalized in April established an expedited registration process for entities holding state medical marijuana licenses, allowing qualifying businesses to manufacture, distribute or dispense marijuana for medical purposes under federal law.
Because MedPharm Research’s application was submitted under the earlier system, DEA evaluated it under the requirements governing Schedule I bulk marijuana manufacturers.
DEA emphasized that denying the application does not prevent MedPharm Research from applying under the new federal registration framework for state-licensed medical marijuana manufacturers if it qualifies.
DEA Administrator Terrance Cole signed the decision on October 2.
