The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced this week it will hold a hearing regarding the attorney general’s proposal to ease restrictions on marijuana. The hearing is scheduled for the morning of December 2 at the DEA’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, effectively delaying any further action on federal cannabis policy until after the upcoming election.
The hearing is intended to gather factual and expert analysis. Anyone interested in participating in the hearing must file a request with the DEA explaining how they are “adversely affected or aggrieved by” some aspect of the proposed rule. They have until September 28 to file a request with the DEA.
This announcement follows the close of the public comment period on the Biden administration’s proposal to reclassify marijuana, during which nearly 43,000 comments were submitted by various stakeholders, including anti-legalization activists, marijuana industry advocates, and state cannabis regulators.
As we’ve reported, the rescheduling process began in October 2022 when President Biden issued an executive order directing Cabinet-level agencies to review federal marijuana prohibition. In August 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a significant review, determining that cannabis has a “currently accepted medical use.” The Department of Justice agreed with the HHS recommendation in May 2024.
In August, federal health regulators recommended rescheduling cannabis after determining that it has a currently accepted medical use in the U.S. and poses less danger than other Schedule I drugs. The U.S. Department of Justice made its formal recommendation to reschedule marijuana in May, following an opinion from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, which concluded that neither international treaty obligations nor the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) require keeping marijuana in Schedule I.
With Monday’s announcement tax relief for the U.S. cannabis industry is unlikely until next year. If marijuana is reclassified to Schedule 3, cannabis businesses would no longer face restrictions under Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code although another tax problem could remain. Until then, the IRS expects plant-touching operators to continue paying federal taxes as usual.