WASHINGTON – A Drug Enforcement Administration judge has paused the proceeding on broader cannabis rescheduling while considering whether to admit a new federal watchdog report into the hearing record and allow additional briefing.
The judge’s September 29 order adds another procedural step for adult-use operators awaiting a decision on whether adult-use cannabis will join medical cannabis on Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. In April, Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana and marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license moved from Schedule I to Schedule III.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius issued the stay, which establishes no date for completing the review, after three participants in the rescheduling hearing conducted June 29–July 15 filed a joint motion seeking admission of a September 23 Government Accountability Office report. The participants, who oppose rescheduling, also requested supplemental briefing and asked Julius to hold his recommended decision and certification of the record until that briefing is completed.
“This matter is STAYED pending the Motion’s resolution,” Julius ordered. The government must respond by October 13; other remaining participants may respond by the same deadline. October 13 is a filing deadline, not a scheduled restart or decision date.
Julius has not yet decided whether to admit the report or permit additional briefing. His order describes the requested briefing as addressing how the report affects the proceeding, “if at all.”
GAO identified gaps in DEA’s and the Food and Drug Administration’s written procedures for evaluating substances and developing scheduling decisions or recommendations. The office recommended clearer policies and an updated agreement governing consultation between FDA and the National Institutes of Health. The agencies concurred.
The audit also found DEA considered Department of Health and Human Services evaluations and recommendations in all 95 cases where required during the period reviewed, from 2020 through 2025. All 84 completed scheduling decisions aligned with HHS recommendations. Those findings concern the agencies’ broader scheduling practices and do not establish the cannabis evaluation was invalid.
The stay concerns the pending broader rescheduling proceeding. It does not suspend Blanche’s April order that rescheduled medical marijuana. For operators, the immediate consequence is continued uncertainty about when the broader federal review will conclude.
