The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has announced a public hearing to address the agency’s proposal to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I, to Schedule III.
This hearing, set for December 2, will occur after the November elections.
“This is notice that the Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a hearing with respect to the proposed rescheduling of marijuana into schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act”, states the notice, which is currently unpublished in the Federal Register but will be officially published on Thursday. “The proposed rescheduling of marijuana was initially proposed in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register on May 21, 2024.”
The notice says “Interested persons desiring to participate in this hearing must provide written notice of desired participation as set out below, on or before [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION]. The hearing will commence on December 2, 2024, at 9 a.m. ET at 700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202.”
The DEA says “The hearing may be moved to a different place and may be continued from day to day or recessed to a later date without notice other than announcement thereof by the presiding officer at the hearing.”
The hearing follows a 60-day public comment period in which over 40,000 comments were submitted, over 90% in favor of recheduling or descheduling marijuana. Once the hearing is complete, the DEA will issue a final ruling in the Federal Register, which will include an official date of enactment if they decide to move forward with rescheduling.
We spoke with a DEA official who told us that a final ruling would come by October, 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.”
