The Senate has given final approval to President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—and a major marijuana industry association is already pushing him to get the job done on the long-stalled federal cannabis rescheduling process.
Terrance Cole has been selected as the administrator of DEA. However, during Trump’s 2nd term so far it is being run by interim managers. After a Monday procedural vote to move the consideration of the nominee forward, the chamber confirmed it on Tuesday with a vote of 50-47.
Notably, while Cole has said that examining the rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” if he was confirmed for the role, he has refused to say what he wants the result to be and has in the past made comments expressing concerns about the health effects of cannabis.
National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), which began under Biden’s administration, immediately put pressure on Cole. They wanted him to complete the process of rescheduling.
“The rescheduling process under the previous administration was unnecessarily protracted and fraught by allegations of malfeasance within DEA and we look forward to your renewed leadership to expedite this process and fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise to ‘unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule III drug’ and ultimately ‘implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults, to safe, tested product,'” NCIA’s Aaron Smith said in a letter sent to Cole following the confirmation vote on Tuesday.
We urge you to move forward with the rescheduling of cannabis in an efficient and transparent way. Rescheduling could help remove unnecessary obstacles to research and reduce burdens for legitimate businesses that operate under state laws. It would also bring federal policies more in line the overwhelming public opinion, as well as decades of reform at state level.
The letter states: “As DEA determines the next steps in its cannabis policy, we urge you to consider the value of collaboration among stakeholders that can provide real-world insight into public health and enforcement issues, as well as operational effects of the federal marijuana policies.” NCIA members and NCIA welcome the opportunity to participate constructively in such an effort.
“We are eager and ready to work with the DEA and Trump Administration to, as you said during your confirmation hearing, ‘listen to the experts’ and ‘follow the science,’ which we are confident will lead to a change in marijuana’s status federally.”
In May, a Senate committee advanced the nomination of Cole to become DEA administrator amid the ongoing review of the marijuana rescheduling proposal that he has so far refused to commit to enacting.
Cole—who has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth—said in response to senators’ written questions that he would “give the matter careful consideration after consulting with appropriate personnel within the Drug Enforcement Administration, familiarizing myself with the current status of the regulatory process, and reviewing all relevant information.”
Meanwhile, earlier this month, DEA again notified an agency judge that the marijuana rescheduling process remains stalled under the Trump administration.
John Mulrooney (DEA Administrative Law Judge, ALJ), who was appointed by Biden’s administration to be the DEA Administrative Law Judge in 2010, temporarily halted the hearings of a proposal that would move cannabis from Schedule I into Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA and rescheduling supporters said in a Monday joint report that they are still stuck.
Robert Murphy is acting DEA Administrator at the moment, and any decision on the proposed marijuana rescheduling rule will be dependent on his actions. According to others, it is more likely that this rule won’t be implemented until a permanent DEA management is in place.
Murphy’s appointment as acting administrator wasn’t widely publicized, but he’s replaced Derek Maltz—who subscribes to the “gateway drug” theory for marijuana—in the role.
DEA Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) John Mulrooney initially agreed to delay the rescheduling proceedings after several pro-reform parties requested a leave to file an interlocutory appeal amid allegations that certain DEA officials conspired with anti-rescheduling witnesses who were selected for the hearing.
Originally, hearings on the proposed rescheduling rule were set to commence on January 21, but those were cancelled when Mulrooney granted the appeal motion.
After the appeal, the judge had denied a motion to remove DEA from all rescheduling procedures. The judge argued that DEA was improperly named as “proponent” for the proposed rule due to allegations that ex-parte communications were made with witnesses who opposed rescheduling and that this “resulted” in an irrevocable taint on the process.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department told a federal court in January that it should pause a lawsuit challenging DEA’s marijuana rescheduling process after Mulrooney canceled the hearings.
Also in January, Mulrooney condemned DEA over its “unprecedented and astonishing” defiance of a key directive related to evidence it is seeking to use in the marijuana rescheduling proposal.
It was the DEA’s insistent digital submission of tens or thousands of public commentaries it had received as a response to its proposed rule for moving cannabis to Schedule 3.
Mulrooney didn’t hesitate to call out DEA on various procedural errors throughout this rescheduling.
For example, in December he criticized the agency for making a critical “blunder” in its effort to issue subpoenas to force Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials to testify in hearings—but he allowed the agency to fix the error and ultimately granted the request.
Relatedly, a federal judge also dismissed a lawsuit seeking to compel DEA to turn over its communications with the anti-cannabis organization.
Mulrooney had separately denied a cannabis research company’s request to allow it to add a young medical marijuana patient and advocate as a witness in the upcoming rescheduling hearing.
Also, one of the nation’s leading marijuana industry associations asked the judge to clarify whether it will be afforded the opportunity to cross-examine DEA during the upcoming hearings on the cannabis rescheduling proposal.
Further, a coalition of health professionals that advocates for cannabis reform recently asked that the DEA judge halt future marijuana rescheduling hearings until a federal court is able to address a series of allegations they’re raising about the agency’s witness selection process.
Separately, the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved a spending bill that contains provisions to block the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana.
Re-scheduling has generated a lot of public interest. Although moving marijuana to Schedule III won’t make it legal at the federal level, this reform will allow cannabis-licensed businesses to claim federal tax breaks and eliminate certain research restrictions.
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Meanwhile, two GOP senators introduced a bill in February that would continue to block marijuana businesses from taking federal tax deductions under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code 280E—even if it’s ultimately rescheduled.
Aside from the delays in hearings, the new leadership at DEA is also a complicating factor.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the United States. He has been vocal before about his support of cannabis legalization and psychedelics as therapy. But during his Senate confirmation process in February, he said that he would defer to DEA on marijuana rescheduling in his new role.
Separately, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was reportedly photographed reviewing a document that appears to be a draft contract to provide services—including “administration-related guidance”—to a firm affiliated with the major marijuana company Trulieve. The visible portion of the document describes a lucrative bonus if a certain “matter resolves,” with an “additional ‘Super Success Fee'” for other “exclusive policy remedies.”
Last month, the former congressman reiterated his own support for rescheduling cannabis—suggesting in an interview with a Florida Republican lawmaker that the GOP could win more of the youth vote by embracing marijuana reform.
Gaetz also said last month that Trump’s endorsement of a Schedule III reclassification was essentially an attempt to shore up support among young voters rather than a sincere reflection of his personal views about cannabis.
A survey conducted by a GOP pollster affiliated with Trump that was released in April found that a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms, including rescheduling. Notably, Republicans are even more inclined to support a state-led legalization of marijuana, without any federal intervention, than the average voter.
Trump has chosen Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, to be his nominee for DOJ. The Senate has confirmed this decision. During her confirmation hearings, Bondi declined to say how she planned to navigate key marijuana policy issues. As attorney general of Florida, Bondi opposed the legalization of medical marijuana.
Amid the stalled marijuana rescheduling process that’s carried over from the last presidential administration, congressional researchers recently reiterated that lawmakers could enact the reform themselves with “greater speed and flexibility” if they so choose, while potentially avoiding judicial challenges.
Meanwhile, a newly formed coalition of professional athletes and entertainers, led by retired boxer Mike Tyson, sent a letter to Trump on Friday—thanking him for past clemency actions while emphasizing the opportunity he has to best former President Joe Biden by rescheduling marijuana, expanding pardons and freeing up banking services for licensed cannabis businesses.
Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.
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