{"id":86734,"date":"2026-08-25T06:59:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T14:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/08\/25\/dea-releases-full-marijuana-rescheduling-hearing-transcript-as-judge-prepares-to-issue-his-recommendation\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:47:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T03:47:14","slug":"dea-releases-full-marijuana-rescheduling-hearing-transcript-as-judge-prepares-to-issue-his-recommendation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/08\/25\/dea-releases-full-marijuana-rescheduling-hearing-transcript-as-judge-prepares-to-issue-his-recommendation\/","title":{"rendered":"DEA Releases Full Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Transcript As Judge Prepares To Issue His Recommendation"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The full official transcript of a\u00a0Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on the Trump administration\u2019s marijuana rescheduling proposal<\/a> has now been made available to the public.<\/p>\n

The release of the day-by-day record of the cannabis rescheduling proceedings comes after DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius ordered that dozens of mostly small and technical changes be made to an initial draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The full transcript runs 2,533 pages for the full 11 days of the proceedings and reveals DEA\u2019s effort to advocate on behalf of the move to reschedule marijuana as well as opponents\u2019 attempts to undermine it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government is not putting forth any evidence to suggest that marijuana is not dangerous. All controlled substances by definition are dangerous,\u201d James Schwartz, a DEA attorney, said on the opening day of the hearing, according to the transcript. \u201cThat is why they are scheduled in the first place. However, controlled substances must be evaluated by the risks they pose balanced with the medical use they provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed rule, the supporting documents, and the Government witnesses will establish that marijuana has a currently accepted medical use,\u201d he said. \u201cWith that determination, marijuana can no longer remain in Schedule I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julius, the DEA judge, said at the closing of the last day of the proceedings that the tribunal \u201cunderstands the strong views held by many on all sides of the issues involved in this matter and is very grateful for the professionalism demonstrated by counsel and the parties throughout this hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn making a recommended decision on the proposed rescheduling of marijuana, I give my solemn promise to counsel, the designated parties, and the public that I will thoroughly consider and evaluate all the evidence presented at this hearing,\u201d the judge said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, DEA and parties that participated in the marijuana rescheduling hearing filed their final briefs<\/a> of the proceedings last week.<\/p>\n

The federal agency, which is charged with defending the proposed move of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III, said in its brief that \u201cmarijuana no longer fits the statutory requirements for Schedule I because it has a currently accepted medical use within the United States and it has an accepted safety for its use under medical supervision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency noted that under the law it must give \u201csignificant deference\u201d to an \u201cextensive ten-month study on the scientific and medical properties\u201d of cannabis conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which recommended rescheduling.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently there are over 30,000 practitioners treating more than six million patients in 43 U.S. jurisdictions,\u201d DEA said. \u201cSuch practices demonstrate that there is no longer a lack of accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision, and as such, marijuana does not fulfill the requirements of being a Schedule I substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also said that there is \u201csubstantial evidence sufficient to show that marijuana\u2019s abuse and dependency profiles better align with Schedule III substances than Schedule II\u201d or Schedule I. \u201cThe vast majority of individuals who use marijuana do so in a manner that does not result in dangers to themselves or to their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In conclusion, DEA asked the judge overseeing the hearing to \u201cexpeditiously recommend\u201d that marijuana be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule III.<\/p>\n

Opponents of cannabis reform\u2014including the SAM; the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska; TBI; National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) and others\u2014also filed briefs.<\/p>\n

The anti-rescheduling entities argued that a new two-part test federal officials used to analyze cannabis improperly departs from a former five-part test, that marijuana does not have accepted medical value and that the reform would undermine drug testing of safety-sensitive workers, among other things.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the Department of Justice\u2019s (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)\u00a0said the prior five-part test was \u201cimpermissibly narrow\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and said the two-part review \u201cis sufficient to establish that a drug has CAMU even if the drug has not been approved by FDA and would not satisfy DEA\u2019s five-part test.\u201d<\/p>\n

DEA has since\u00a0embraced the new approach to evaluating cannabis for CAMU<\/a>\u00a0and it has been used to subsequently evaluate other substances.<\/p>\n

Julius, the DEA judge, will now consider the final briefs and testimony delivered during the hearing and issue a recommendation on cannabis\u2019s scheduling status. The final decision will ultimately be up to the DEA administrator, however.<\/p>\n

During the hearing, DEA officials charged with defending the cannabis rescheduling proposal<\/a> highlighted testimony on marijuana\u2019s medical benefits and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids<\/a>. That included appearances from a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and a medical doctor from New Hampshire who detailed how medical marijuana provides relief to pain patients and can serve as an alternative to opioids.<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, lawyers and witnesses for parties who are oppose marijuana rescheduling and participated in the hearing\u00a0put significant focus on the alleged harms of cannabis use as well as criticism of recently adopted changes to an analysis used to determine whether drugs have accepted medical value<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole invited only organizations and people who oppose marijuana reform to join the hearing<\/a> as designated participants\u2014telling supporters that they do not meet the definition of an \u201cinterested person\u201d to participate because they are not \u201cadversely affected or aggrieved by any rule or proposed rule issuable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opposition parties that participated include Smart Approaches to Marijuana, National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DUID Victim Voices, Kenneth Finn, Phillip A. Drum and the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the hearing\u2019s start, marijuana reform activists held a press conference outside DEA headquarters to highlight how they feel the have been \u201cshut out\u201d<\/a> of the process\u2014criticizing the fact that no supporters of reform were invited to participate and that the proceedings were not livestreamed despite officials\u2019 vows of \u201ctransparency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marijuana Moment sent requests to Julius, the DEA judge, and to Cole, the DEA administrator,<\/a> requesting they reverse a decision to prohibit the public from tuning into the cannabis hearing via livestream<\/a>. A congressman and other journalists later joined in that request<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis<\/a>, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III.<\/p>\n

Under a separate order the acting attorney general signed, the hearing<\/a> is being held to consider more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III.<\/p>\n

A prior hearing process on the marijuana rescheduling process that was initiated by the Biden administration stalled last year amid litigation over alleged improper communications and witness selection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The current marijuana rescheduling process is being challenged with several lawsuits<\/a> that have been consolidated by a federal appeals court. Those pieces of litigation against the cannabis reform have been filed by state attorneys general<\/a>, marijuana legalization opponents<\/a> and a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical corporation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the already-enacted rescheduling of state-licensed medical cannabis is already having broad impacts.<\/p>\n

The Congressional Research Service published a report on the current cannabis rescheduling move<\/a>\u00a0explaining that certified patients who possess medical marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries now have certain protections under Schedule III. \u201cThe order appears to authorize end users to possess marijuana for medical use without a CSA-compliant prescription,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has posted a\u00a0draft update to a gun purchase form to acknowledge the federally legal status of medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0under rescheduling. The revised section in question\u00a0notably says that only \u201cuse or possession of marijuana for recreational purposes\u201d is federally prohibited, leaving out the prior form\u2019s mention of medical cannabis.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to\u00a0issue new tax guidance for the marijuana industry<\/a>\u00a0following rescheduling. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions they\u2019re currently barred from under an IRS code known as 280E that doesn\u2019t apply to Schedule III substances.<\/p>\n

Even DEA, which has long opposed cannabis legalization and was accused of stalling the rescheduling process initiative by the Biden administration, has launched a registration process for state-legal marijuana businesses<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0take advantage of federal benefits that come with the reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Department of Transportation, on the other hand, issued guidance saying that use of state-legal medical cannabis is still no excuse for a positive drug test by truck drivers<\/a>, pilots and other safety-sensitive workers.<\/p>\n

The Department of War issued a memo making clear that marijuana use by military service members<\/a> and civilian employees of the department remains prohibited, even under federal cannabis rescheduling.<\/p>\n

A congressional committee recently voted to\u00a0block federal officials from taking further steps to carry out cannabis rescheduling<\/a>, though bipartisan lawmakers told Marijuana Moment they don\u2019t believe that provision will be enacted<\/a> into law.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post DEA Releases Full Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Transcript As Judge Prepares To Issue His Recommendation<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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The full official transcript of a\u00a0Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on the Trump administration\u2019s marijuana rescheduling proposal has now been made available to the public. The release of the day-by-day record of the cannabis rescheduling proceedings comes after DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius ordered that dozens of mostlyContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86735,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86734\/revisions\/86735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}