The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) administrative hearing on the Trump administration’s proposal to move marijuana to Schedule III has officially concluded, with the judge overseeing the case giving participating parties one month to submit their final written arguments before he prepares a recommendation on the proposal.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius issued an order today setting August 17 as the deadline for designated parties to file optional post-hearing briefs. The submissions may be up to 50 pages and can include closing arguments and arguments concerning other issues noted by the tribunal during the hearing. Each designated party may file only one brief.
The hearing began June 29 and concluded July 15 after more than two weeks of testimony concerning the proposal to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. The proceedings followed a new notice of hearing issued by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April as part of the Trump administration’s expedited rescheduling process.
In his latest order, Julius emphasized that filing a post-hearing brief is voluntary.
“This is a nonmandatory submission; therefore, a Designated Party will not be penalized for not filing a post-hearing brief, and the absence of a submission implies that no submission was intended,” he wrote.
The judge also established August 17 as the deadline for participants to submit proposed corrections to the official hearing transcripts. After reviewing those requests and conducting his own review, Julius said he will issue another order adopting a final list of corrections before a corrected transcript is published on DEA’s website.
The corrections are limited to transcription errors, such as misspelled words or remarks attributed to the wrong speaker, and cannot be used to revise testimony or correct instances in which a witness misspoke.
Once the briefing process is complete, Julius will draft a recommended decision based on the evidence and testimony presented during the hearing. His recommendation will not be binding.
Under DEA regulations, participating parties will have 20 days after receiving Julius’ report to file exceptions challenging his recommended decision, findings of fact or conclusions of law before the record is sent to the administrator.
The matter will ultimately be sent to DEA Administrator Terry Cole, who will make the agency’s final determination on the proposed rule. Julius said at the conclusion of Wednesday’s hearing that he could not provide a timeline for either his recommendation or DEA’s final decision.
The hearing included testimony from federal officials supporting the proposed Schedule III classification. Aside from DEA, the designated parties consisted exclusively of organizations, physicians and state government entities opposing broader marijuana rescheduling.
Those participants included the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DUID Victim Voices, physicians Kenneth Finn and Phillip Drum, and the states of Nebraska, Idaho and Indiana.
