A Drug Enforcement Administration hearing on the Trump administration's proposal to move marijuana to a less restrictive drug category has ended, with the presiding judge setting deadlines for closing filings before he drafts his own recommendation.
The multi-day hearing, which began late last month, wrapped up Wednesday after testimony from several states opposed to the reform.
DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius issued an order Thursday noting that because no closing arguments were heard in person, participants may file post-hearing briefs of up to 50 pages by August 17, addressing closing arguments and other issues raised during proceedings. “This is a nonmandatory submission; therefore, a Designated Party will not be penalized for not filing a post-hearing brief, and the absence of a submission implies that no submission was intended,” Julius wrote.
Parties may also submit proposed transcript corrections by August 17. Julius's tribunal will compare its own review against submitted corrections to produce a final corrected transcript, which will be posted publicly on DEA's website.
Julius said he'll draft his recommendation after receiving the briefs, though the ultimate rescheduling decision rests with DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. No timeline was given for either step.
During the hearing, DEA officials defending the reclassification proposal highlighted marijuana's medical benefits and relative safety compared with alcohol and opioids, including testimony from an FDA scientist and a New Hampshire physician on cannabis as a pain-relief alternative to opioids. Opponents emphasized alleged harms of marijuana and criticized recent changes to the government's methodology for assessing accepted medical value.
Cole had invited only reform opponents as designated hearing participants, saying supporters didn't qualify as "interested persons" adversely affected by the rule. Participants included Smart Approaches to Marijuana, the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DUID Victim Voices, Kenneth Finn, Phillip A. Drum, and the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska. Reform advocates held a press conference outside DEA headquarters last month protesting their exclusion and the absence of a livestream despite officials' promises of transparency.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved cannabis products from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act; this hearing considers a broader Schedule III move for all marijuana. A prior Biden-era rescheduling effort stalled last year amid litigation over improper communications and witness selection. The current process faces consolidated lawsuits from state attorneys general, legalization opponents and a cannabis biopharmaceutical company.
The already-enacted medical marijuana rescheduling is reshaping federal policy: the Congressional Research Service says certified patients now have certain legal protections; ATF has drafted a revised gun-purchase form reflecting medical marijuana's new status; Treasury and the IRS plan new tax guidance letting licensed businesses claim deductions currently barred under tax code 280E; DEA launched a registration process for state-legal businesses to access federal benefits; and the Department of Transportation and Department of War both maintain that medical marijuana use remains prohibited for truckers, pilots and military personnel. A congressional committee recently voted to block further rescheduling steps, though bipartisan lawmakers said in an interview they don't expect that provision to become law.
