A US congressman and several news organizations are pressing the Drug Enforcement Administration to livestream its upcoming federal cannabis rescheduling hearings, set to run from June 29 through no later than July 15.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) wrote Friday to DEA Administrator Terrance Cole, calling the proceedings “historic” and noting that in late 2024, the DEA allowed livestreaming of a similar hearing, citing “the public interest in this matter” and its “commitment to conducting a transparent proceeding.” “I do not see any reason why that rationale wouldn’t hold today, especially regarding such an important and impactful matter,” Cohen wrote.
Portfolio Media, Inc., publisher of Law360, sent Cole a letter the same day joining the livestream request, arguing that in-person-only access “restricts real-time information on a consequential policy development to the handful of members of the press and public in attendance.” An attorney for cannabis publication Cultivated Media and New York Times reporter Ashley Southall also wrote to Cole requesting real-time access so both could provide contemporaneous coverage.
Attorney Joseph A. Bondy had previously sent letters to Cole and to DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius — who declined to consider outside submissions — requesting streaming access. After DEA announced Thursday it would release a transcript only at the hearing’s conclusion, Bondy wrote that “a final transcript is useful, but it is not a substitute for livestream access,” and that once a delayed transcript is released, “the opportunity for real-time observation, timely reporting, and informed public response has already passed.”
Medical cannabis advocates including Americans for Safe Access, Veterans Initiative-22, U.S. Pain Foundation, Realm of Caring, and Montel Williams also wrote to Julius, noting that many patients interested in the proceedings “are disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, financially constrained, or managing serious medical conditions” and cannot travel to Arlington, Virginia.
The hearing — featuring only rescheduling opponents as participants — addresses moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order immediately reclassifying state-licensed medical cannabis and FDA-approved marijuana products to Schedule III; the upcoming hearing would cover comprehensive rescheduling of marijuana. A prior Biden-era hearing stalled last year over litigation involving alleged improper communications and witness selection, and the current process faces consolidated appeals-court lawsuits from state attorneys general, legalization opponents, and a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical company.
Read letters to the DEA administrator about livestream access:
