San Francisco (CNN Business) For more than 50 years, if a scientist wanted to conduct a clinical trial using cannabis and needed to obtain the drug, the University of Mississippi has been the only game in town.

The university, since 1968, consistently secured US government contracts to serve as the country's sole supplier of research-grade cannabis. But that partnership has come under fire in recent years because the product the University of Mississippi grows is considered, as one lawsuit put it, "sub-par."

On Monday, Ole Miss' reign came a step closer to coming to an end.

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday said it's now moving forward on a 2016 policy change to allow more entities to grow cannabis for federally approved research. Industry advocates claim such a move would be a boon to not only science but also national legalization efforts — if, that is, the DEA is really going to follow through on what it's saying.

"The main thing that it will likely do is precipitate broader changes in federal policy in marijuana, which will have immense knock-on effects for the industry," said David Abernathy, vice president of government affairs at the Arcview Group — a firm that courts investment and conducts market research in the cannabis industry.

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