Rescheduling's Final Act: DEA Tells Its Own Judge to Say Yes

The briefs are in. The waiting begins.

Here is a sentence you don't read every day: the Drug Enforcement Administration is formally arguing that marijuana should be less restricted. In a post-hearing brief filed August 17, the DEA told its own chief administrative law judge, Derek Julius, that marijuana no longer fits the requirements for Schedule I — the federal category reserved for drugs with no accepted medical use. The agency pointed to more than 30,000 practitioners recommending cannabis to some six million patients across 43 U.S. jurisdictions, and argued its abuse profile lines up with Schedule III, alongside things like ketamine and testosterone.

The opposition filed too, right on the August 18 deadline: Smart Approaches to Marijuana joined by Idaho, Indiana, and Nebraska, plus the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and drug-testing industry groups. Their core claim is that the government invented new standards not found in the Controlled Substances Act, with warnings about psychosis, impaired driving, and workplace testing thrown in for weight.

Wait — didn't some of this already happen?

Partly, yes. Back in April, the Justice Department used an expedited process to move FDA-approved cannabis medicines and products sold under qualifying state medical programs into Schedule III. That order is done. What's on the table now is the bigger question: whether marijuana generally moves from Schedule I to Schedule III. The formal hearing ran from late June to mid-July; these briefs are the closing arguments.

What happens next

  • Judge Julius reviews the record and issues a recommendation — no deadline attached.
  • The final call belongs to DEA Administrator Terrance Cole.
  • Schedule III would not legalize marijuana federally. It would ease research barriers and the crushing 280E tax burden on state-licensed businesses.

So: the arguments are made, the record is closed, and federal cannabis policy is now officially in the hands of one very patient judge. We'll be watching.

Sources

Educational content, not legal advice. Laws change - verify with official sources.

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