Terrence Col, the newly-sworn-in administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA), stated during a hearing for confirmation in April of his intention to make the government’s pending proposal on marijuana rescheduling “one my first priorities”.
Cole didn’t mention marijuana in his “strategic priority” list released by the DEA on Friday. Instead, Cole focused on other issues, including anti-trafficking, Mexican cartels and the fentanyl distribution chain.
The agency released a statement saying that the top priority of Administrator Cole is to intensify the pressure against the drug cartels, and fight the deadly drug epidemic with urgency.
Cole—who has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth—emphasized his past work for DEA in a statement.
As I walk into the DEA doors, the new administrator is reminded about the passion and commitment he carried in his role as a special agent. The gravity of DEA’s mission became clear when I watched President Donald Trump sign the Halt Fentanyl Act surrounded with Angel Families who held onto memories of loved ones. “They are the reason why we stay focused, determined and unwavering.”
Cole has also warned against drug trafficking organisations, who he says are responsible for the poisonings and overdoses of Americans aged between 18 and 45.
“The cartels and Foreign Terrorist Organizations fueling this crisis are global in reach – and so is the DEA,” he said in the release. With the help of the Trump Administration and the Department of Justice as well as our federal, state and local partners and international allies, we can dismantle violent cartels to make America safe again.
Here is the complete bulleted list of Cole’s top priorities, as stated in the DEA announcement:
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- Affirming DEA’s Commitment to Enforcement – targeting traffickers, removing poison from the streets of this country, and protecting the vulnerable.
- By targeting their distribution, command and control networks, as well as their terrorist nature, the Mexican Cartels can be dismantled.
- The criminal chemical supply chain that supplies the chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl.
- Drug-Fueled Violence Reduction in America’s Most Affected Cities through Expanded Partnerships with State and Local Law Enforcement
- Following the Money – targeting illicit finance and the growing use of cryptocurrency.
- Lead the fight on the Cyber and Dark Web Frontlines, by targeting the digital pipes that fuel the drug trade.
- To coordinate enforcement against transnational criminal groups, strengthening partnerships across the country and with foreign counterparts is key.
- The DEA is committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of its employees, recognizing the fact that their greatest asset is the people they employ.
No mention of “marijuana” and “cannabis”, despite Cole telling lawmakers that it would be his first priority in office to reschedule, appears in the official announcement.
The Senate had approved the Trump nomination a day before Cole was sworn in on Wednesday. Nearly immediately following the announcement, the major marijuana trade association redoubled its effort to push forward the long-stalled process of federal cannabis redistribution.
“The rescheduling process under the previous administration was unnecessarily protracted and fraught by allegations of malfeasance within DEA,” Aaron Smith of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) said in a letter to Cole after his Senate confirmation vote, “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.'”
Notably, however, while Cole has said that examining the rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” if he was confirmed, he has so far refused to say what he wants the result to be—and has made past comments expressing concerns about the health effects of cannabis.
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 at the time 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.”
DEA notified a judge earlier this month that marijuana rescheduling remains stalled in the Trump administration.
John Mulrooney, DEA Administrative Law Judge and ALJ of the Controlled Substances Act, has been halting hearings for six months on a proposed move to Schedule III from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. This was started by the Biden Administration. In a report submitted to the judge on Monday by DEA lawyers and rescheduling advocates, they said that there is still no agreement.
Robert Murphy, the acting administrator of the DEA, is the only person who can take action at this time on the proposal to reschedule cannabis. 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—who announced his retirement last week, leaving the rescheduling process entirely to Cole—initially agreed to delay the 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.
This appeal was filed after the court denied a request that DEA be removed from the rescheduling process. 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.
It was the DEA’s insistent digital submission of tens or thousands of public commentaries it had received as a response to the proposed regulation to shift cannabis to Schedule 3.
Mulrooney didn’t hesitate to call out DEA for its 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.
Public interest in the rescheduling process has been high. The rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III would not make it federally legal, but the reform could allow licensed cannabis businesses access to federal tax deductions as well as remove some research obstacles.
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 in May 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 supportive than the average voter of allowing state governments to legalize pot without federal interference.
The Senate has confirmed Trump’s choice of former Florida Attorney-General Pam Bondi to lead the DOJ. Bondi refused to reveal how she would handle key marijuana-policy issues during her confirmation hearings. She also opposed medical marijuana legalization as the state’s attorney general.
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.
A newly formed coalition of professional athletes and entertainers, led by retired boxer Mike Tyson, also sent a letter to Trump earlier this month—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.
Philip Steffan is the photographer.
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