The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has notified an agency judge that the marijuana rescheduling process is still on hold—with no future actions currently scheduled as the matter sits before the acting administrator, who has called cannabis a “gateway drug” and linked its use to psychosis.
John Mulrooney (DEA Administrative Law Judicial (ALJ)) temporarily halted the hearings of a proposal that had been initiated by the Biden administration to shift cannabis from Schedule I into Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
According to the Tribunal’s order of January 13th, 2025 the United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (Government/DEA), via the undersigned lawyers, hereby submits on behalf of Government or Movants, the Joint Status report ordered by the Tribunal.
The Acting administrator has not yet responded to Movants interlocutory request regarding their motion to reconsider, DEA stated in the updated joint statement, which had also been signed or submitted to pro-rescheduling witness for review. The briefing has not been scheduled.
It’s not clear what this will mean for the future of rescheduling. If the decision is made by DEA acting administrator Derek Maltz it’s unlikely to be good news for those who support rescheduling.
Maltz, among other things subscribes to the “gateway drug” theory of marijuana. He believes that most people who live in states which have legalized it will continue to purchase cannabis from illegal sources like cartels because high taxes are charged in regulated markets.
The official, who retired from DEA in 2014 after 28 years of service, has made a series of sensational comments about cannabis—at one point linking marijuana use to school shootings, for example.
He also repeatedly insisted that the Biden administration”hijacked” the rescheduling process from DEA for political purposes. I have a strong impression that the DOJ is more concerned with votes and politics than public safety or health. Maltz said last May, for example.
The DEA judge initially agreed to delay the proceedings after several pro-rescheduling 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.
Mulrooney approved the motion to appeal, and hearings had been scheduled for 21 January. The DEA was ordered to give a status report with the other witnesses within 90 days. This would fall on Sunday.
This appeal was filed after the court denied a request that DEA be removed from the rescheduling process altogether. They argued it had been wrongly identified as the “chief proponent” given allegations about ex parte communication with witnesses against rescheduling that resulted in “an irrevocable taint”.
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.
The issue is DEA’s refusal to digitally submit the tens and thousands of comments received by it in response to a proposed rule that would move cannabis from Schedule II to III.
Mulrooney is not shy in calling out DEA for various procedural mistakes throughout the 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.
Public interest in the rescheduling process has been high. 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.
Trump’s nominee to serve as DEA administrator, Terrance Cole, has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services(HHS), has previously expressed his support for cannabis legalization and psychedelic therapy. But during his Senate confirmation process in February, he said that he would defer to DEA on marijuana rescheduling in his new role.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)—Trump’s first pick for U.S. attorney general this term before he withdrew from consideration—said recently that “meaningful” marijuana reform is “on the horizon” under the current administration, praising the president’s “leadership” in supporting rescheduling.
Trump chose Pam Bondi to be the new DOJ director after Gaetz withdrew. This choice was confirmed by the Senate. 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.
The process of marijuana rescheduling could be stalled for ever if Trump does not take a proactive stance.
Supporters of rescheduling got an unwelcome update last week, however, as the White House Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released a report that outlined the administration’s top drug policy priorities for Trump’s first year of his second term—and it notably did not mention rescheduling or other cannabis reforms.
Recent ads by a marijuana-industry funded political action (PAC) attacked Biden’s record on cannabis policy as well as Canada. These new ads promoted sometimes false claims about the former administration and made the case for Trump to deliver reform.
Read DEA’s joint Status Report below on the marijuana rescheduling proceeding:
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Philip Steffan provided the photo.
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