DEA Limits Cannabis Rescheduling Hearings to Opponents of Rescheduling

When President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche rescheduled medical cannabis, they did so by only rescheduling state-legal medical cannabis and FDA-approved medications. Cannabis, generally, was not rescheduled. Instead, Acting AG Blanche cancelled and terminated the rescheduling hearings that were started by President Biden in 2024. Contemporaneously to terminating the 2024 process, Acting AG Blanche initiated a new hearing process with its stated intent to consider whether cannabis generally should be moved to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

On Thursday, June 18, 2026, DEA Chief Administrative Judge Derek C. Julius (ALJ) issued a Preliminary Order for the upcoming hearings on rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III. In his Order, the ALJ indicated that 7 parties would be considered “Interested Parties” in the hearings – which means that they are the only parties that may present evidence in the hearing to decide whether cannabis, in its entirety, is moved to Schedule III under the CSA. All 7 of the Interested Parties oppose rescheduling, 5 of the 7 parties have filed lawsuits to stop the limited rescheduling (state-legal and FDA-approved cannabis) that AG Blanche already effectuated. In doing so, the ALJ determined that these 7 parties are the only ones “affected or aggrieved” by the proposed rescheduling.

In 2024, proponents of the rescheduling who were admitted as Interested Parties in the 2024 proceeding (which has been terminated), accused the DEA of bias and proved to be the death-knell of that proceeding as they appealed preliminary decisions. Now, none of these 2024 rescheduling proponents will participate in the proceeding. The rescheduling proponents’ legal maneuvers in 2024 appears to have had significant garnered unwanted consequences.

The rescheduled hearings are to occur June 29-July 14 in Virginia. Public admittance is very limited and there will not be any livestream of the proceeding. A copy of the Preliminary Order can be found here: Preliminary Scheduling Order