On day two of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on the Trump administration's marijuana rescheduling plan, opponents' attorneys targeted a 2023 shift in how officials judge a drug's "currently accepted medical use" (CAMU), which bars Schedule I status.
Regulators once used a five-part test checking known chemistry, safety data, efficacy research, expert acceptance and available evidence. In 2023 they adopted a two-part test asking whether licensed providers widely use a substance medically under state law, backed by credible science.
An attorney for Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska noted that a 2015 review under the old test found marijuana lacked accepted medical use. Under cross-examination, Dominic Chiapperino, a director at the FDA's controlled substance staff and one of DEA's two witnesses, testified the two-part test didn't exist when FDA began its latest marijuana review, and that officials learned of it in a July 2023 letter from the assistant secretary of health, two months before finishing. He confirmed marijuana would have failed the old test.
Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, called the admission "truly extraordinary," saying regulators applied "a brand new standard" never used for any other drug.
The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel found in 2024 that the old test was "impermissibly narrow," concluding the newer two-part review can establish CAMU even without FDA approval or compliance with the old test.
DEA's second witness, New Hampshire physician Corey Burchman, testified medical marijuana relieves chronic pain and let some patients quit opioids entirely. Monday's opening testimony focused on cannabis's medical value and safety compared with alcohol and opioids.
The hearing isn't livestreamed despite requests from a congressman and journalists. DEA Administrator Terrance Cole invited only rescheduling opponents, saying supporters don't qualify as "interested persons." Advocates protested outside DEA headquarters Monday over being excluded. Proceedings must end by July 15.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's April order moved state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved cannabis products from Schedule I to Schedule III; a separate order created this hearing to weigh broader rescheduling. A Biden-era rescheduling hearing collapsed last year amid litigation, and the effort faces consolidated lawsuits from state attorneys general, reform opponents and a cannabis biopharmaceutical company.
The medical marijuana reclassification prompted new ATF, IRS and DEA guidance on gun forms, tax deductions and federal registration, while the Transportation Department still treats medical use as no drug-test defense, and a congressional committee voted to block further rescheduling.
