DEA Urges Judge to Wrap Up Marijuana Rescheduling Process

DEA wants the rescheduling record closed, not widened

The DEA asked the judge handling the marijuana rescheduling case to wrap up the process, according to Cannabis Business Times.

That's the headline we can verify today. Cannabis Business Times reported Thursday that the agency is urging the judge to finish the proceeding and steer clear of what the outlet described as "prohibitionist bait." CannIntel hasn't independently reviewed the underlying filing. Details such as proposed deadlines or specific rulings requested sit with the original reporting.

The cleanest read on the move is that the DEA sees delay as the main threat to its own proposal. Detours keep marijuana in Schedule I.

Nothing about the proposal is new. The Justice Department and DEA published the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on May 21, 2024, to move marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. That followed an August 2023 recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to do the same.

More than two years on, the process is still open.

Why a fight over "bait" is really a fight over scope

The more issues a hearing takes on, the longer it runs, and opponents of rescheduling benefit from every extra month.

During its 2024 comment period, the rulemaking drew more than 40,000 public comments. A hearing before a DEA administrative law judge was meant to test the proposal, but it stalled in January 2025 before testimony began, amid disputes over who could participate and how.

The signal doesn't define "prohibitionist bait," so what follows is our interpretation. The likeliest meaning is that the DEA wants to keep the judge from reopening questions about marijuana's medical value and abuse potential, which HHS already weighed in its recommendation. Take those questions on and the record balloons. Leave them alone and the case stays narrow.

That's a sensible instinct for an agency that wants a final rule. It also underscores that the DEA, not the judge, largely controls how tightly it frames its own case. Opponents will argue a narrow record is a thin one, and that argument could resurface in court after any final rule.

For the broader timeline and prior filings, see the CannIntel topic hub on DEA rescheduling.

What Schedule III would and wouldn't change for operators

Schedule III would end Section 280E exposure for state-licensed marijuana businesses but wouldn't legalize adult-use sales or interstate commerce.

The money is in 280E. The Internal Revenue Code provision bars deductions for businesses trafficking in Schedule I and II substances. Move marijuana to Schedule III and multistate operators (MSOs) in states like California, Colorado and Ohio could deduct ordinary expenses for the first time, which would materially lower effective tax rates for many of them. Plenty of operators have already priced that relief into their forecasts.

What it wouldn't do matters just as much:

• State-licensed adult-use and medical programs would still conflict with federal law.
• Interstate transfers would remain barred.
• Banking relief wouldn't arrive automatically.

So the DEA's push is about speed, not finality. A final rule would still likely face legal challenges, and each month of delay is another month of 280E bills for operators.

Watch next for the judge's response to the DEA's request, and for whether the agency can move the case toward a final rule published in the Federal Register.