Gentlemen, Start Your Engines: DEA’s Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Begins Monday

Last May the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to transfer marijuana from schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) to schedule III.  Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Marijuana, 89 Fed. Reg. 44,597 (May 21, 2024)..  The NPRM was consistent with the Department of Health and Human Services’ finding that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use in the U.S. and its views about abuse potential and physical or psychological dependence.  The CSA requires scheduling actions through formal notice and comment rulemaking on the record after opportunity for a hearing.

If DEA reschedules marijuana to schedule III, regulatory controls applicable to schedule III controlled substances would apply as well as marijuana-specific requirements and any controls that might be implemented to meet U.S. treaty obligations.  Drugs containing any substance within CSA’s definition of “marijuana” would remain subject to the applicable prohibitions in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

DEA announced in August after receiving over 43,500 comments in response to the NPRM that it would hold a public hearing regarding the proposed rescheduling.  Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Marijuana, 89 Fed. Reg. 70,148, (Aug. 29, 2024).  The “preliminary hearing,” which will begin Monday, December 2nd at 9:30 a.m. in DEA’s North Courtroom at its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, will serve to address legal and logistical issues and future dates for the evidentiary hearing on the merits.  No witness testimony will be offered nor received on Monday.  Only designated participants and credentialed media members may attend.  The public may access the hearing virtually at www.DEA.gov/live.