Just days after announcing the first tranche of witnesses for the critical upcoming public hearing on cannabis rescheduling, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has postponed it until early 2025.
Yesterday, Business of Cannabis reported that a number of key industry experts have been invited to attend the December 02 hearing, which could significantly influence the legal and regulatory landscape for cannabis in the United States.
However, according to Marijuana Moment, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney issued a preliminary order stating that the DEA’s list of over two dozen witnesses lacked sufficient information on participants’ positions and credentials, pushing the formal hearing to January or February 2025.
While the initial hearing will still take place on December 02, no testimony will be heard. Instead, witnesses have been asked to provide availability dates regarding their council, and a concrete date for the hearing will be given ‘after the preliminary hearing where the parties have been afforded the opportunity to supply logistical and availability input’.
As such, fears that a rescheduling decision would not be forthcoming before a new administration is in place have now been all but realized, creating uncertainty that investors fear could impact cannabis stocks.
According to the judges letter, the DEA’s list of hearing participants who were selected gives ‘no indication in the four corners of the document as to whether the participants support or oppose the [notice of proposed rulemaking] or how the participants satisfy the interested person definition set forth in the regulations’.
The list of the 25 participants selected, published yesterday by MJBiz, appear to marginally favour anti-cannabis groups, with leading opponents of the reform, including Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America set to appear.
