The Drug Enforcement Administration’s administrative hearing on marijuana rescheduling is now just two weeks away, with proceedings set to begin June 29 at 9 a.m. ET.
The hearing, which will take place at the DEA Hearing Facility in Arlington, Virginia, is part of the federal rulemaking process to consider moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. According to the notice, the hearing will conclude no later than July 15, though it may be moved, continued from day to day or recessed to a later date.
The proceeding comes after the Department of Justice and DEA already took a narrower but significant step in April by placing FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana products regulated under qualifying state medical marijuana licenses in Schedule III. That action did not fully reschedule marijuana, but it gave Schedule III status to those specific categories while leaving the broader question of marijuana’s federal status to the upcoming hearing process.
The June 29 hearing is focused on whether marijuana more broadly should be transferred to Schedule III, a move first proposed in a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register in May 2024. That proposal followed a recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services, which found that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use, has a lower potential for abuse than substances in schedules I and II, and that its abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
A prior DEA hearing on the proposal had been scheduled for December 2024, but the agency later withdrew that notice and terminated the earlier proceedings. The new hearing was announced after President Trump issued an executive order in December directing the attorney general to take all necessary steps to complete the rulemaking process related to rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III in the most expeditious manner allowed under federal law.
According to the DEA notice, the purpose of the hearing is to receive factual evidence and expert opinion regarding whether marijuana should be transferred to Schedule III. An administrative law judge will preside over the proceedings and will have authority to manage the hearing, examine witnesses, rule on evidence and take other actions allowed under DEA hearing procedures.
If marijuana is ultimately moved to Schedule III, it would remain federally controlled, but would no longer be classified alongside substances such as heroin and LSD under Schedule I. Marijuana has been a Schedule I drug under federal law since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted in 1970.
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