Two Cannabis Comment Deadlines Land This Week. Here's What They Actually Decide.
The Schedule III hearing on June 29 will decide whether all marijuana — not just FDA-approved and state-medical — gets rescheduled. Mail comments due May 20. Email comments due May 24. Here's the smaller question hiding inside the big one.
Two Cannabis Comment Deadlines Land This Week. Here’s What They Actually Decide.
The DEA’s expedited hearing on broader cannabis rescheduling opens June 29 in Arlington. Anyone who wants to participate has to file a notice of intent postmarked by May 20 or submitted by email no later than May 24. The desired-participation deadline is May 28; the DEA will announce selected participants on June 22. The hearing must conclude by July 15.
The April 23 DOJ final order already did the narrow piece — placing FDA-approved cannabis-derived products and state-medical-licensed cannabis in Schedule III, and lifting Section 280E for those qualifying operators (Foley Hoag, Gibson Dunn). The June 29 hearing decides the bigger question: whether the rest of the cannabis category — adult-use, recreational, the entirety of state-legal commercial cannabis — also moves to Schedule III.
There is a smaller question hiding inside the big one. The DEA has not had a comparable “expedited hearing” pattern for any prior Schedule III decision in living memory. How the agency conducts this one is the most useful live read available on how it will handle the much larger controlled-substance question landing seven months later: the December 31, 2026 sunset of the telemedicine flexibilities for buprenorphine and other controlled substances. If the DEA can move from final order to hearing to conclusion in eleven weeks on cannabis, it can almost certainly produce a final telemedicine rule before the year-end cliff. If it can’t, the addiction-medicine field will have a planning problem.
Why this matters for people in recovery
If you are receiving buprenorphine or another controlled substance through telehealth, the most useful thing to do this month is not to comment on cannabis rescheduling. It is to confirm with your prescriber that they have an in-person contingency plan in place for January 2027 if the federal rule isn’t finalized in time. Most clinics do; the ones that don’t are the ones to ask early.
SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) — free, confidential, 24/7.
Sources Cited
- 01.B
- 02.B
- 03.B
Filed Under
policytrends
Continue reading
More from this section
The Block Grant Consolidation's Hidden Cut Is in the Mandates, Not the Number
The Behavioral Health Innovation Block Grant consolidates three SAMHSA programs at $4.126B vs $4.6B+ previously. The dollar gap understates the policy shift: categorical mandates that pushed money toward syringe programs, workforce, and harm reduction are what actually get eliminated.
Policy & FundingThe Medicaid Work Requirements Start in 2028. For People in Active Treatment, the Clock Is Already Running.
Medicaid work requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill take effect October 2028. For people in active SUD treatment, the documentation burden may end coverage before they finish.
Policy & FundingWashington Buried the Science on Alcohol. Now Congress Is Making It Permanent.
A government-commissioned study found no safe level of alcohol. Washington suppressed it. This week, Congress voted to ban the research program that produced it — permanently.