Marijuana legalization proponents hoping for a quick resolution to the rescheduling argument will not be happy to learn that rescheduling has been delayed yet again. This time, the delay is a direct result of DEA hearings being cancelled. It is just the latest salvo in the ongoing fight between proponents and prohibitionists.
How We Got Here
If you are curious as to how we ever got to the point of having court hearings over marijuana rescheduling, it goes back to an HHS ruling a couple of years ago. Under former president Joe Biden, the HHS was instructed to review the feasibility of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.
HHS studied the question and made its recommendation in 2023. The DOJ and DEA began separate inquiries after HHS made it clear that rescheduling would be a good idea. A final rule doing just that was proposed this past summer and posted for public comment.
Many of the people in the rescheduling camp felt greatly confident that rescheduling would take place by the end of 2024. It did not happen. We are now into 2025 and looking at further delays in administrative court.
Where We Are Now
The DEA was slated to hold hearings this month intended to finally decide the matter once and for all. However, rescheduling proponents have accused the agency of stacking the deck in its own favor. They petitioned the administrative court to remove the DEA as the primary advocate for not rescheduling.
To make a long story short, rescheduling proponents now need more time to put together their case. As a result, the administrative court canceled the January hearings. As for when those hearings might take place, no future dates have been set. The court previously dismissed the motion to remove the DEA from the hearings, and that decision is now under appeal.
All the legal actions combined suggest that, unless the DEA completely backtracks and approves rescheduling, the question will not be settled any time soon. It is quite possible the debate could still be raging 6-12 months from now.
What It Means to the Industry
Industry players cannot be happy with the ongoing delay. For example, consider the Beehive Farmacy in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a medical cannabis pharmacy, the company has established its business model based on a combination of state and federal law. If federal law changes, so does their business model. Right now, the company is in limbo for all intents and purposes.
In a broader sense, rescheduling would open the door to cannabis being treated like other prescription medications in the same class (e.g., ketamine and nalorphine). That would be good in the sense that the federal government would recognize legitimate medical use. But it could also be bad. How? By opening the door to a corporate takeover of the entire cannabis industry.
What It Means to Patients
Rescheduling marijuana will have little impact on recreational consumers. But it could have an enormous impact on medical cannabis patients. Most importantly, rescheduling would undoubtedly lead to tailored cannabis-based drugs prescribed by doctors for specific conditions. Medical cannabis would also get a lot more scrutiny in terms of research. That could be a very good thing.
There is a real chance, especially with the new administration, that this reschedule will never take place. On the other hand, President Trump displayed some signs of a pro-cannabis stand during last year’s campaign. Who knows? His administration could ultimately lead the charge to rescheduling or complete legalization. Stranger things have happened – especially things in the marijuana space.
