DEA Rescheduling Hearing Cancelled

by Omar Figueroa & Lauren Mendelsohn

January 14, 2025

 

Late in the afternoon on Monday, January 13, 2025, Chief Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney cancelled the hearing on the merits scheduled for January 21, 2025.  Additionally, proceedings in the matter of the proposed rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III were stayed (put on hold), pending an appeal to the DEA Administrator.  Chief Administrative Law Judge Mulrooney’s order can be read below and downloaded here.

Marijuana-Rescheduling_Order-Regarding-Village-Farms-Interna-Hemp-for-Victory-and-OCO-ET-ALs-Motion-for-Reconsider73

 

The IRS has issued guidance on potential rescheduling, stating, “Until a final rule is published, marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance and is subject to the limitations of Internal Revenue Code Section 280E.”

The practical effect of the cancellation is to indefinitely suspend the potential rescheduling of cannabis, thereby delaying tax relief to a cannabis industry crushed by 280E’s disallowance of business expenses.