Many cannabis industry stakeholders had hoped the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would issue a final rule to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) before the November election. But that won’t be the case.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, who holds the keys to granting an administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing before issuing a final rule, decided to schedule such a hearing for Dec. 2. The hearing is to “receive factual evidence and expert opinion regarding” the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed rule to transfer cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA. In addition, the hearing may be continued from day to day or recessed to a later date without notice.
Although the Dec. 2 hearing notice isn’t scheduled to be published in the Federal Register until Aug. 29, the DEA made a pre-published version available on Aug. 26. “DEA is committed to conducting a transparent proceeding,” Milgram wrote.
This decision by Milgram comes after industry insiders like Curaleaf Chairman and CEO Boris Jordan said in late July, “I don’t think there’s going to be an ALJ [hearing].” It also comes after pro-legalization U.S. House Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said this week, “I’m assuming [cannabis rescheduling] will happen right before the election.” Jordan and Mace made these statements during broadcasts of The Dales Report.
Had Milgram not granted an ALJ hearing, it would have put the DEA’s final rule for cannabis rescheduling on the fast track. However, it also would have opened up the chances for litigation to delay or block the implementation of a final rule.
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While Milgram did not name an ALJ to oversee the hearing in the pre-published notice, the presiding officer will be granted full authority to “conduct a fair hearing, to take all necessary action to avoid delay, and to maintain order,” Milgram wrote.
Milgram’s notice comes after the DOJ’s proposed rescheduling rule that was published May 21 in the Federal Register—which Milgram did not sign off on—drew more than 43,000 responses during a 60-day public comment period that ended July 22.
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