DEA Says Marijuana Rescheduling Appeal Process ‘Remains Pending’...

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says the marijuana rescheduling
appeal process “remains pending” despite President Donald Trump’s recent
executive order directing the attorney general to finish the job “in the
most expeditious manner.”

DEA and reform proponents on Monday submitted a joint status report on an
interlocutory appeal that concerns allegations of agency bias and improper
communications with anti-rescheduling parties during the rescheduling
review process.

“To date, Movants’ interlocutory appeal to the Administrator regarding
their Motion to Reconsider remains pending with the Administrator,” DEA
said. “No briefing schedule has been set.”

It’s up to the agency to set the briefing schedule. But nearly a year after
the appeal was accepted by a former administrative law judge, DEA is again
delaying the process. This is the fourth joint status report, with largely
identical language, that the parties filed pursuant to the administrative
court’s order.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole told senators during a confirmation hearing
last year that examining the cannabis rescheduling proposal would be “one
of my first priorities.”

This latest filing comes just weeks after Trump signed an executive order
calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to expeditiously finalize a rule to
move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances
Act (CSA).

Meanwhile, a leading marijuana prohibitionist group says it’s retained the
legal services of Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, to sue to
reverse federal marijuana rescheduling if and when the pending rule is
finalized. And they’ll also be filing a petition through the administrative
process to keep cannabis strictly prohibited.

Moving cannabis to Schedule III wouldn’t legalize marijuana, but it would
formally recognize the plant’s medical value, allow marijuana businesses to
take federal tax deductions and remove certain research barriers.

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) noted that DOJ
could in theory decline to enact rescheduling, or start the review process
all over again, for example.


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An agriculture-focused conservative nonprofit connected to a PAC linked to
the president recently applauded the rescheduling order, arguing that it
will “destroy” the illicit market and support seniors and military veterans
who could benefit from cannabis.

Separately, a coalition of Republican state attorneys general are
criticizing Trump’s rescheduling decision, saying cannabis is “properly”
classified as a Schedule I drug with no accepted medical use and a high
potential for abuse.

Last month, groups of House and Senate Republican lawmakers also sent
letters urging Trump not to reschedule cannabis. Trump, however, dismissed
those concerns—pointing out that an overwhelming majority of Americans
support the reform and that cannabis can help people who are suffering from
serious health issues, including his personal friends.

While the interlocutory appeal before DEA is on pause again with the latest
filing, the agency did recently finalize quotas for legal production of
controlled substances in 2026—further raising the amount of certain
psychedelics that can be made for research purposes in the new year.

Over recent years, DEA has generally ramped up production goals for
marijuana and certain psychedelics as interest in their therapeutic
potential has grown within the public and scientific community.

*Read the latest DEA filing in the rescheduling case below:*

The post DEA Says Marijuana Rescheduling Appeal Process ‘Remains Pending’
Despite Trump’s Executive Order appeared first on Marijuana Moment.