Rescheduling Opponents File Final Reply; DEA Judge Is Next

Opponents Close Out Their Side of the Record

Opponents of the proposed Schedule III move filed their final reply, and the next decision now sits with a DEA administrative law judge. The Marijuana Herald reported the filing on Oct. 22, 2026, and described the deadline as expedited.

That's the extent of what the signal supports. The report's headline doesn't identify the filers, the judge, or the date the reply was due, and CannIntel hasn't independently confirmed those details.

A final reply is the last brief in a round of written argument. Nothing in it changes the legal status of marijuana.

Why an ALJ Sits in the Middle of This

The Controlled Substances Act lets DEA reschedule a drug only after a rulemaking process, and contested proposals can run through an on-the-record hearing before an administrative law judge. The authority comes from 21 U.S.C. § 811(a), and the hearing procedures sit in 21 C.F.R. part 1316.

In practice, the judge's role is narrower than headlines suggest: the ALJ manages the record, rules on procedure, and makes recommended findings, while the DEA Administrator signs any final order.

Under the CSA's hearing rules, the judge builds the record and recommends; the Administrator, not the ALJ, issues the binding scheduling decision.

How the Proposal Got Here

DEA published its notice of proposed rulemaking to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III on May 21, 2024, at 89 Fed. Reg. 44597. The proposal followed an August 2023 recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services, which asked DEA to reschedule.

Schedule I, defined at 21 U.S.C. § 812, covers substances with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule III covers substances with a moderate to low potential for dependence. Moving marijuana would break from a classification that has stood since 1970.

The hearing process stalled in early 2025. A hearing set for January 2025 was stayed while an interlocutory dispute was pending. President Trump then signed an executive order in December 2025 directing the attorney general to expedite rescheduling. Whether that order produced the deadline the Herald describes isn't established in the signal.

What the Signal Leaves Unanswered

The report doesn't say who filed, which issues the reply addressed, or what ruling the judge now faces. Those gaps matter for anyone trying to forecast a final rule.

Opponents in this proceeding have included groups arguing the HHS recommendation was flawed and others arguing DEA skipped required steps, but which of those arguments appear in this reply is unknown. That's the gap.

CannIntel will update this report when the docket entry or the filer's own statement is available. Procedure drives timing here. The filing itself is the primary document that counts.

What Schedule III Would and Wouldn't Change

A move to Schedule III would likely end the application of IRC Section 280E to state-licensed marijuana businesses, but it wouldn't legalize the market under federal law. Section 280E bars deductions for businesses trafficking in Schedule I and II substances. Operators in states such as California, Colorado and Ohio have paid effective tax rates far above ordinary businesses because of it.

Schedule III wouldn't remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. Dispensaries would remain outside federal law, and FDA drug-approval requirements would stay in place. Interstate commerce would stay prohibited.

The tax relief is the piece operators and investors are pricing. For a multistate operator carrying a large 280E liability, the timing of a final order matters more than the label.

The Procedural Path From Here

The judge's next ruling, whether it sets a hearing, closes the record, or issues recommended findings, will determine how quickly DEA can reach a final order. Each step in that sequence is a public filing.

For full background on this story, see the CannIntel topic hub on DEA marijuana rescheduling. It tracks each notice, stay and order in the proceeding.

The next signal to watch is the ALJ's order following this reply, and whether it fixes a hearing date or moves the record toward the Administrator's desk.