Efforts to reclassify cannabis at the federal level recently hit a roadblock after a DEA judge canceled the upcoming reclassification meeting. The main agenda at the meeting would have been a proposal seeking to amend federal cannabis laws and reclassify the controversial drug, putting an end to several decades of prohibition.
However, the Drug Enforcement Administration judge has effectively delayed the reclassification process for at least three months. The Department of Health and Human Services proposal sought to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the CSA, a move that would finally grant America’s state-level marijuana sector access to the same benefits enjoyed by other industries.
At the moment, marijuana’s classification at the federal level prevents cannabis businesses from accessing basic financial services like bank accounts and loans. Businesses in this industry are also denied tax deductions and benefits even though the sector pays billions of dollars in taxes every year. America’s state-legal marijuana sector will have to keep dealing with the limitations caused by marijuana’s classification for the foreseeable future.
DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney’s decision to cancel the January 21 meeting comes amidst claims that DEA agencies liaised with witnesses to oppose the Biden administration’s cannabis reclassification proposal. The cancellation extends the process for loosening cannabis restrictions by three months, Marijuana Moment says in a recent report.
Witnesses set to appear at the rescheduling hearing claim that there were ‘improper communications’ between the DEA and anti-rescheduling groups. Additionally, they say that DEA Administrator Anne Milgram selected hearing witnesses improperly, actions that warranted the DEA’s removal from the rescheduling proceedings.
Mulrooney ultimately denied this request, canceled the meeting, and stayed the proceedings for at least three months, throwing a major spanner into the works for cannabis rescheduling proponents who were looking to get cannabis removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
Even though Judge Mulrooney noted that his office couldn’t remove the DEA from the decision to reschedule marijuana, he blasted the agency for ‘procedural missteps’ that he believes contributed to a rulemaking delay that could be indefinite as the Trump administration takes over.
He criticized the DEA and its highest officials for offering selective aid and access to certain groups and individuals that oppose the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. In a scathing statement, Mulrooney said the allegations against top DEA officials showed a deep lack of understanding and grotesquely poor judgment from officials who should know better.
Marijuana industry actors like Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) must be disappointed that the rescheduling process has yet again hit another speed bump that could make the process drag on for longer than is desirable.
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