DEA Adds Specific Schedule I Listing for Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC)
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Adds hexahydrocannabinol, known as HHC, to the DEA’s Schedule I controlled substances list under its own name and drug code, 7220. DEA says this does not newly ban HHC because it was already treated as a Schedule I substance as a synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol. The practical effect is clarity and administration. Businesses, labs, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers should treat synthetic HHC, including HHC made through chemical conversion from hemp-derived materials, as a Schedule I controlled substance. DEA-registered manufacturers may now receive HHC-specific production and procurement quotas instead of using the broader tetrahydrocannabinols code.
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Key Changes
- Creates a separate Schedule I listing for HHC under DEA drug code 7220
- Confirms that synthetic HHC remains a Schedule I controlled substance
- Allows DEA to set HHC-specific production and procurement quotas for registered manufacturers
Obligations
What this law requires
Treat 6,6,9-trimethyl-3-pentyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol, also known as hexahydrocannabinol or HHC, as a Schedule I controlled substance under DEA drug code 7220.
Do not manufacture, distribute, dispense, possess, import, or export synthetic HHC unless authorized under the Controlled Substances Act requirements applicable to Schedule I substances.
Do not treat HHC produced through chemical conversion from hemp-derived materials as exempt “tetrahydrocannabinols in hemp”; such chemically converted HHC is considered synthetically produced and remains controlled as Schedule I.
DEA-registered manufacturers of HHC must use the HHC-specific DEA drug code 7220 for HHC-related manufacturing and procurement quota administration, rather than relying on the broader tetrahydrocannabinols drug code.
DEA-registered manufacturers of HHC must obtain and operate within DEA manufacturing and procurement quotas applicable to HHC under its separate Schedule I listing and drug code 7220.