Marijuana rescheduling reaches a dead end

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) judge has canceled an upcoming hearing on the Biden administration’s marijuana rescheduling proposal pending appeal, effectively moving the process to the Trump administration.

Advocates for more lenient marijuana laws have alleged that DEA officials colluded with rescheduling opponents and hope the process will move forward under President-elect Trump.

The first hearing to discuss the Biden administration’s proposal to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act was scheduled to begin on January 21.

But those plans have now been quashed by DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulroney.

The parties in favor of the rescheduling — Village Farms International, Hemp for Victory and the Connecticut Office of the Hemp Ombudsman — requested that DEA Administrator Anne Milgram be removed as a proponent of the rescheduling in the hearing process.

The groups claimed that at least one high-ranking DEA official had reached out to opponents of marijuana rescheduling, helping them improve their chances of being selected as participants in the hearings.

Mulroney rejected the parties’ request, writing: “I can no longer remove or reappoint the Director, nor can I hold the parties in contempt of court and fine them. The strangeness of this unsupported approach is compounded by the fact that the appointment of a new DEA Director by a different political party is imminent.” .

The judge also wrote that if the allegations were true, even in the best sense, they would represent “a baffling and egregious lack of understanding and poor judgment by high-ranking officials at a major federal agency with significant prior experience dealing with crimes.” [Administrative Procedure Act]”.

According to DEA regulations, parties can file an appeal if their request is denied. Mulroney found in his ruling that allowing the parties to appeal “would likely avoid extraordinary delay, expense or prejudice to the award.” [designated participants] The government is injecting appellate certainty into the equation at this stage of the proceedings.

The proceedings have now been temporarily stayed pending this appeal. The DEA declined to comment on the paused proceedings when reached by The Hill.

For those in the cannabis industry, the delay has been a cause for some concern, as rescheduling to Schedule III is intended to help their businesses take deductions or add a credit to their annual federal taxes, something businesses that handle Schedule I or Schedule II substances cannot do. He does.

Jordan Treat is the founder and CEO of Panther Group, a cannabis merchant bank and consulting firm aimed at helping business owners secure financial support. Tritt told The Hill that the bumps in the road were to be expected.

“We are not surprised by this,” he said. “In the end, I think the rescheduling will happen, and I think it might be good for a new administration to come in.”

Treat noted that there doesn’t appear to be a lot of support coming from the current DEA when it comes to rescheduling marijuana. Trump’s initial pick to lead the agency has been withdrawn from consideration, and he has not yet named a new nominee.

Judge Mulroney hinted in his ruling this week that the DEA may not be a “permanent supporter” when it comes to this proposal, and acknowledged that the current DEA director could have “reservations” about the proposed rescheduling. This should encourage parties to make the “best case” for rescheduling marijuana, he wrote.

Karen O’Keefe, state policy director at the Marijuana Policy Project, emphasized that the incoming administration could provide a fresh start for marijuana legalization efforts.

“For the first time in decades, we have an incoming American president who believes cannabis should be legal,” O’Keefe said. “More than two-thirds of Americans support legalization, and most of them live in a legal cannabis state. Yet every cannabis consumer and every worker who serves them remains a federal felon. If President Trump makes federal reform a priority, we may be on the cusp of historic progress.

During his 2024 campaign, President-elect Trump expressed support for rescheduling and decriminalizing marijuana.

“I believe it is time to end the unnecessary arrests and incarceration of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We must also implement smart regulations, while providing adults access to a safe, tested product,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in September.

He added that he plans to vote “yes” on Florida’s Third Amendment, a ballot measure that would legalize marijuana for adults. The measure ultimately failed despite a nearly 56% “yes” vote, needing a supermajority of 60% to pass.

O’Keefe said Trump can “support the Second Amendment rights of cannabis consumers, deschedule cannabis, and lead on this grassroots cause of personal liberty, limited government, fiscal responsibility, and states’ rights.”

Under federal law, a person who illegally uses a controlled substance such as marijuana while also possessing a gun or ammunition is committing a felony.

Michael Teller, chief operating officer of Panther Group, said the Trump administration may support further marijuana legalization as part of its pro-states rights and business-friendly stance.

“I think Trump is going to look at this entirely in terms of tax revenue in dollars and cents [perspective]. “Because anything makes money,” Tiller said. “I don’t think he’ll ever push federal legislation, but I think rescheduling and whatever it takes to allow the states to make the decisions … will pave the way.”

Michael DiGilio and Robert Head, leaders of Village Farms and Hemp for Victory respectively, wrote in an op-ed published in Marijuana Moment this week that the paused rescheduling session was a good thing for the hemp industry. They admitted they were “frustrated” by the delay but said it was necessary to achieve the rescheduling goal.

“Had we not intervened, the hearing would have continued with DEA ​​publicly tipping the scales against rescheduling and paving the way for the acting Career Administrator to formally reject the move to Schedule III,” they wrote.

“Instead, the matter will likely be handled in the near future by the incoming Department of Justice and the yet-to-be-appointed DEA Administrator under President-elect Donald Trump, who publicly supported the rescheduling during the campaign.”