The federal government is taking steps to improve access to legal marijuana for federally approved scientific and medical research in the U.S.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA has filed a notice to the Federal Register just two days ahead of a deadline to respond to a lawsuit brought against it by researchers. The researchers have asked a federal court to order the DEA to process the long-pending applications to grow marijuana for research purposes.

The DEA is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice or DoJ. While the agency started accepting applications from potential marijuana growers about three years ago, it has not acknowledged or acted on the 33 applications it has received since then.

The DEA said Monday it will take action on these pending applications to expand the number of entities certified to grow marijuana plants for researchers.

"DEA is making progress in the program to register additional marijuana growers for federally authorized research, and will work with other relevant federal agencies to expedite the necessary next steps," said DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon.

Currently, the University of Mississippi is the only entity licensed to produce marijuana for research in the U.S.

According to the DEA, the total number of individuals registered by it to conduct research with marijuana, marijuana extracts, derivatives and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC has increased by more than 40 percent to 542 in January 2019 from 384 in January 2017.

In the last two years, the DEA has more than doubled the production quota for marijuana each year, based on increased usage projections for federally approved research projects.

However, the DEA said it now intends to propose new regulations for growers before making decisions on the pending applications.

"I am pleased that DEA is moving forward with its review of applications for those who seek to grow marijuana legally to support research. The Department of Justice will continue to work with our colleagues at the Department of Health and Human Services and across the Administration to improve research opportunities wherever we can," said Attorney General William Barr.

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