The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remains on track to finalize the rescheduling of marijuana by October, according to an agency official.
The public comment period for the proposed rescheduling ended on July 22, with over 43,000 comments submitted. The DEA is currently analyzing these comments, with a final ruling anticipated within the coming weeks.
The proposal to move marijuana to Schedule III was first published by the DEA on May 21, initiating a 60-day public comment period. With that period now concluded, the DEA’s focus has shifted to reviewing every comment, as required by law. According to the DEA official, this process is progressing as planned, despite the volume of comments.
“We’ve already analyzed tens of thousands of comments, but do still have thousands remaining. At this pace, we are still on track for a final rescheduling announcement to come prior to October,” the official stated.
The official requested anonymity, and while we could not independently verify their statements, we did confirm that the individual works for the DEA. This same official accurately informed us in January that the DEA would announce rescheduling before summer (an official announcement came a few months later, on April 30).
If marijuana is moved to Schedule III, it would allow medicines derived from it and its compounds to be prescribed nationwide, pending regulatory approval. The move would also provide state-legal medical marijuana patients and businesses with a range of federal benefits and protections.
Despite the DEA often taking months or even years to analyze comments and reach a final decision on rescheduling proposals, both President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have instructed the agency to expedite the review process.
[Update: 8/26]:
The DEA has announced a public hearing on their rescheduling proposal, scheduled for December 2.
We spoke with the DEA official mentioned in this article, and this is what they had to say:
“Although the ruling was expected to come by October, with no hearing held, strong calls from within the agency to hold a hearing resulted in a last minute change of course.”
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