WASHINGTON – Americans for Safe Access, Veterans Initiative-22, U.S. Pain Foundation, Realm of Caring, CMM–New Jersey, Montel Williams, Montel Media, ASA San Diego, Michigan for Safe Access, Firefighters for Plant Medicine, and Georgia Medical Cannabis Society sent a letter to Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius urging him to reconsider the portion of his June 18, 2026, preliminary order stating the upcoming marijuana rescheduling hearing “will not be televised, livestreamed, or broadcasted in any way.”
The hearing, scheduled to begin June 29, 2026, concerns whether marijuana, as defined under the Controlled Substances Act, should be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule III. While the preliminary order recognizes the national public interest in the proceeding and allows limited public and media attendance, it also restricts access to available courtroom seating on a first-come basis and provides no overflow seating.
ASA’s letter argues that the current structure leaves patients, caregivers, clinicians, advocates, and members of the public across the country without meaningful access to observe a proceeding that could shape federal cannabis policy for years to come.
“Medical cannabis patients have lived under the consequences of federal cannabis scheduling for decades,” said Steph Sherer, founder and president of Americans for Safe Access. “A hearing may technically be open to the public while still being practically inaccessible to the people most affected by it. Patients who are disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, financially constrained, or managing serious medical conditions should not have to travel to Virginia and wait in line for an uncertain chance to observe a federal proceeding that directly affects their lives.”
The letter emphasized that it is not asking the tribunal to compromise security, courtroom decorum, witness management, or the integrity of the proceeding. Instead, ASA is asking the tribunal to provide an official, controlled method for remote public observation that allows patients and members of the public outside the courtroom to follow the hearing.
ASA also noted that livestreaming this type of proceeding is possible because the prior DEA cannabis rescheduling hearing was livestreamed before the proceedings were postponed. The agency has already demonstrated that remote public observation can be provided while maintaining control over the proceeding.
“The tribunal has already acknowledged the national public interest in this issue,” Sherer said. “Patients across the country have a real stake in this hearing, and public access should reflect that reality. Transparency and safety are not in conflict here. DEA can protect the proceeding and still let the public see what is happening.”
The letter states that limited first-come seating is inadequate for a proceeding of this magnitude, especially when many patients cannot travel, physically wait in line, or risk being turned away once the limited seating is filled.
“For more than two decades, ASA has worked to ensure that patients have a voice in federal cannabis policy,” Sherer said. “This hearing is too important to be available only to the few people who can get into the room.”
Montel Williams, patient advocate and letter signatory, added, “The decision to reschedule cannabis has the potential to affect millions of patients who rely on it to manage serious medical conditions, and those patients deserve the opportunity to witness this historic process. Transparency builds trust, and ensuring public access to these proceedings is essential to making sure every patient knows their voice and their experience matters.”
According to Shanetha Lewis, executive director of Veterans Initiative 22, “Many of the veterans we serve are disabled. All fought for this country’s freedoms, including the right to observe their own government at work. Denying them livestream access to a hearing that directly impacts their healthcare is a failure we cannot accept. Veterans and the public at large deserve to witness this landmark proceeding without having to choose between participation and their well-being. Veterans Initiative 22 stands with Americans for Safe Access in calling for transparent, accessible public access to a hearing that will shape the future of veteran healthcare.”
Paul Walton, executive director of Firefighters for Plant Medicine, said, “Medical cannabis is safely healing and saving the lives of our first responders, without compromising on duty safety. First responders deserve transparency in this crucial, life-saving process that will allow access to a plant-based alternative to prescription medications and alcohol. Firefighters for Plant Medicine respectfully ask for public access to these hearings.”
Ken Wolski, RN, founder and executive director of Coalition for Medical Marijuana–New Jersey Inc., added, “The federal marijuana rescheduling hearing represents one of the most significant cannabis policy proceedings in modern history. Patients whose lives, health, and quality of life are directly affected by these decisions deserve the opportunity to witness the process without facing physical, financial, or medical barriers to attendance.”
These organizations are urging the tribunal to reconsider the prohibition on broadcasting and to provide meaningful public access before the hearing begins.
About Americans for Safe Access
Americans for Safe Access has worked for more than two decades to advance safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research and provides patient-centered analysis on what rescheduling does, what it does not do, how federal policy changes may affect state medical cannabis programs, and what patients, regulators, healthcare professionals, and cannabis businesses should be watching next.
