The most consequential cannabis proceeding in a generation is finally underway, and it opened with a surprise. On Monday, June 29, the Drug Enforcement Administration gaveled in its administrative hearing on whether to move marijuana broadly from Schedule I to Schedule III, and the federal government did not show up neutral. It showed up in favor.
The government is arguing for rescheduling
For all the worry that the panel had been stacked with opponents, the most striking moment of day one came from the government's own table. A DEA attorney told the court that the Justice Department is not just the proponent of the Schedule III proposal, it supports it, and said the government's witnesses and evidence would meet the burden of proving cannabis has a currently accepted medical use in the United States. That is the central legal question the whole hearing turns on.
To make the case, the government called its first witness: Dr. Dominic Chiapperino, the FDA scientist who directs the controlled substance staff inside the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. His testimony is meant to establish, on the record, that there is credible scientific support for marijuana's medical use, the foundation the rest of the rescheduling case is built on. The seven anti-rescheduling participants spent the day trying to poke holes in that argument.
A small room for a big decision
For a proceeding this important, the setting was modest. The hearing is being held at the DEA's facility in Arlington, Virginia, where only about 25 members of the public could fit in the courtroom. It is not being livestreamed, so most of the country is following along secondhand.
What happens next
Day one was just the start. The hearing is scheduled to run through July 15, with a recess on July 3 and a return on July 6. When it wraps, the administrative law judge will issue a recommendation to the DEA Administrator, who makes the final call on whether to publish a new scheduling rule. That decision could still take months, and legal challenges are already looming, so nobody should expect a clean finish line in July.
Why it matters
Earlier this year the government reclassified FDA-approved and state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III. This hearing is about whether that move extends to cannabis more broadly, which would reshape taxes, research, and banking for the entire industry, New York's included. We will keep this story updated as the hearing continues. For the bigger-picture stakes, see our explainer on what this hearing decides. For adults 21 and over.