London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - February 2, 2024) - Akanda Corp. (NASDAQ: AKAN) ("Akanda" or the "Company"), an international medical cannabis company, today announces it is actively following the developments in federal US policy to reschedule and/or deschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act ("CSA"). The Company believes rescheduling may reinvigorate capital markets and could lead to changes in NASDAQ and NYSE rules on listing plant-touching U.S. companies. Should this occur and provided NASDAQ rule changes, Akanda has strategic plans to become a leader in consolidating US-based operators.

The Company believes there would be additional benefits from improvements in US scheduling policy such as removing state-legal cannabis businesses Section 280 of the Internal Revenue Code, allowing them to deduct business expenses. The Company notes that according to consumer researchers such as the Brightfield Group, the US cannabis industry is poised to continue growing this decade. In 2022, the U.S. cannabis market reached $27 billion in sales. By 2028, it is forecast to be worth $50.7 billion^[1].

Rescheduling

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") report was made public on January 29, 2024. The August 2023 report submitted to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), recommended that cannabis be rescheduled as a Schedule III controlled substance. Rescheduling cannabis under the CSA, 21 U.S.C. § 812(b) requires three findings: (1) it has a lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I and II drugs; (2) it has currently accepted medical uses; and (3) it may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

Descheduling

On January 29, 2024 U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and eight of their Democratic colleagues, including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, urging the DEA to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the CSA. The letter follows a recent recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) that marijuana be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III. The Senators are calling for a complete descheduling of marijuana, consistent with state law, public sentiment, and the need to eliminate draconian criminal and civil penalties for marijuana use.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Company's securities, nor shall there be any sale of such securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. Any offers, solicitations or offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.