After DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius ruled that non-party submissions "lack standing and will not be considered," attorney Joseph A. Bondy sent a letter to DEA administrator Terrance Cole requesting that the federal cannabis rescheduling hearings—opening June 29 in Arlington, Virginia and running through July 15—be livestreamed.
Julius's preliminary order had simultaneously acknowledged "national public interest in this issue predicates towards a policy of transparency" and banned any televising or livestreaming, limiting access to in-person attendance. Bondy's letter notes DEA previously permitted streaming of a Biden-era hearing, later cancelled, in the same rulemaking. "DEA previously determined that livestreaming was the appropriate means of providing meaningful contemporaneous access in this same rulemaking, and DEA has not explained why the same public-interest and transparency considerations now warrant a materially more restrictive access regime," he wrote. After DEA announced it would release a transcript post-hearing, Bondy countered: "A final transcript is useful, but it is not a substitute for livestream access. Livestreaming allows the public and press to observe the hearing as it unfolds, without vying for admittance, crowding the courtroom or affecting the proceeding."
Separately, Americans for Safe Access, Veterans Initiative-22, U.S. Pain Foundation, Realm of Caring, Montel Williams, and other advocates wrote to Julius that many patients are "disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, financially constrained, or managing serious medical conditions" and cannot travel to Arlington.
The hearings involve only opponents of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order reclassifying state-licensed medical cannabis and FDA-approved marijuana products to Schedule III, with a separate order initiating the comprehensive rescheduling hearing. Multiple consolidated lawsuits from state attorneys general, legalization opponents, and a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical company are challenging the process. A prior Biden-era hearing stalled last year over alleged improper communications and witness selection.
The Congressional Research Service says certified medical marijuana patients now have certain Schedule III protections, and the IRS plans guidance ending the 280E tax burden for cannabis businesses. DEA has opened federal registration for state-legal marijuana businesses. The ATF posted a draft gun form update acknowledging medical marijuana's federally legal status, while the Department of Transportation said state-legal medical cannabis still doesn't excuse positive drug tests for safety-sensitive workers. A congressional committee voted to block further rescheduling implementation.
