The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has finalized the participants for its June 29 marijuana rescheduling hearing.
The hearing, scheduled to begin June 29 at 9 a.m. ET at the DEA Hearing Facility in Arlington, Virginia, will examine whether marijuana should be moved more broadly from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act. The proceeding is required to conclude no later than July 15.
According to notices sent by DEA, the participants invited to take part in the hearing are the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, DUID Victim Voices, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the states of Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana, Kenneth Finn, MD, and Phillip A. Drum, PharmD.
All of the groups chosen to participate are opposed to cannabis reform. However, multiple lawyers in support of rescheduling tell us this isn’t a cause for concern, with one saying “the hearing participants don’t decide the outcome, they simply make their case. The legal and scientific record still strongly supports moving marijuana to Schedule III, and the fact that no pro-rescheduling groups were chosen to speak could indicate the DEA is already on their side.”
The June 29 hearing follows an April order from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that placed FDA-approved marijuana products and state-legal medical marijuana under Schedule III. A separate notice from DEA opened a new administrative hearing process to determine whether marijuana as a whole should also be transferred to Schedule III. The move would not legalize marijuana federally, but it would mark a major change in federal drug policy and could have significant tax and regulatory implications for state-licensed marijuana businesses.
The original rescheduling proposal stems from a recommendation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which concluded that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use and should no longer remain in Schedule I, the most restrictive category under federal law.
Schedule I drugs are defined as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, while Schedule III substances are considered to have accepted medical use and a lower potential for abuse than substances in Schedule I or II.
DEA has said the hearing will be conducted under federal administrative procedures, with updates on public access to be provided through the agency’s website.
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