DEA Judge Lays Out the Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Rules

Key Takeaways

The DEA marijuana rescheduling hearing starts June 29, 2026, with a panel composed entirely of opponents to marijuana reform.
Judge Derek C. Julius signed the Preliminary Order, which outlines the hearing’s procedures and confirms the DEA’s burden of proof.
Reform groups like NORML and DPA were excluded from participation due to a legal technicality, as the DEA claimed they cannot be harmed by rescheduling.
The hearing will not be livestreamed or recorded, limiting public access despite the significant interest in the topic.
This process continues amidst ongoing lawsuits and legislative actions threatening further rescheduling steps.

Federal cannabis reform is technically moving forward. The problem is who got a seat in the room. Last Thursday, Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius signed the Preliminary Order that governs the DEA’s hearing on whether marijuana should drop from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The order spells out the timeline, the courtroom rules, and the list of participants.

Here is the part that should raise eyebrows. The DEA, which proposed the rescheduling rule, now has to defend it against a panel of seven parties who all want to kill it. No reform supporters made the cut. The agency built a hearing where the only voices allowed are the ones rooting against the very rule on the table. The seating chart reads like prohibitionists drew it up themselves.

What Does the DEA Marijuana Rescheduling Preliminary Order Say?

The Preliminary Order, filed under DEA Docket No. 1362 and Hearing Docket No. 26-96, sets the ground rules for the proceeding. Judge Julius confirmed he is the Administrative Law Judge designated by the DEA Administrator to hear the case, and that the hearing will follow the Administrative Procedures Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 553 and 556) along with the relevant DEA regulations.

The single question on the table is narrow. As Julius wrote, “whether the remainder of marijuana, as defined in the CSA, should be transferred from its current place on schedule I of the list of controlled substances to schedule III.” The hearing will not revisit the rescheduling of FDA-approved cannabis products or state-regulated medical marijuana, which Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche already pushed into Schedule III back in April.

Crucially, the order states that “the Government, as the proponent of the proposed rule, has the burden of proof” (5 U.S.C. § 556(d); 21 C.F.R. § 1316.56). The DEA built the rule, and now the DEA alone has to make the case for it.

When and Where Is the Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Happening?

The hearing begins June 29, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. ET in the North Courtroom of the DEA Hearing Facility at 700 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia. It wraps no later than July 15, 2026, running daily until 5:00 p.m. ET.

Representatives of the Designated Parties have to show up in person. Witnesses can appear in person or by video teleconference. Anyone entering the facility must present a REAL ID compliant form of identification at the DEA Visitor Center, and screening happens every day.

A handful of deadlines structure the lead-up, which started Monday:

June 26, 2026: The Hearing Clerk issues letters of admittance.
June 22, 2026: The government files its formal notice of appearance.
June 23, 2026: Each party files a list of in-person attendees and availability.
June 24, 2026: Parties file prehearing statements (no more than 25 pages), and the tribunal issues a detailed hearing schedule.
June 25, 2026: Parties exchange proposed exhibits and file an expected attendance schedule.

Who Is Allowed to Participate in the DEA Rescheduling Hearing?

This is where the slant earns itself. The Preliminary Order lists seven “Interested Parties,” all certified by the DEA Administrator. Every one of them opposes marijuana reform:

National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA)
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)
The States of Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, and Louisiana
DUID Victim Voices
Kenneth Finn, M.D.
Phillip A. Drum, PharmD

Several of these parties have already filed lawsuits trying to block rescheduling outright. SAM, led by Kevin Sabet, called rescheduling “the greatest drug policy mistake in a generation.”

Reform groups got shut out. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), and the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) all asked to participate and were rejected.

Why Were Marijuana Reform Supporters Excluded?

The DEA leaned on a legal technicality. Under federal regulations, an “interested person” is anyone “adversely affected or aggrieved by any rule or proposed rule.” The agency’s logic: if you support rescheduling, you cannot be harmed by it, so you do not qualify.

In a rejection letter to the DPA, DEA Administrator Terrance Cole wrote that the group had “not demonstrated you are adversely affected or aggrieved” by the proposed rule. Because DPA backs moving marijuana out of Schedule I, the agency decided it had no standing.

Cat Packer, DPA’s director of drug markets and legal regulation, pushed back. “More than 70 percent of public comments submitted on the proposed rule supported decriminalization, yet many of the patients, consumers, families, small businesses and individuals who have borne the consequences of prohibition have been excluded from meaningful participation in these proceedings,” Packer said.

ATACH president Michael Bronstein put it bluntly: the hearing “will now strictly include prohibitionist parties that oppose President Trump’s position on rescheduling,” leaving it “solely up to the Drug Enforcement Administration to defend its rule.”

What Are the Courtroom Rules in the Preliminary Order?

Julius laid out a tight, structured format for the proceeding:

Each Designated Party gets an assigned day to present its case-in-chief.
Opening statements are capped at 15 minutes.
Each party may call up to two witnesses. Direct examination runs no more than two hours per witness, or four hours if a party calls only one.
Cross-examination is limited to one hour per witness, with one hour for redirect. Interested Parties cannot cross-examine one another.
No voir dire of expert witnesses before testimony. Objections to expert qualifications go in writing.
No closing arguments. Parties file post-hearing briefs instead.

On transparency, the order keeps things in-person only. The hearing will be open to the public and media in a limited capacity, with seating on a first-come basis and no overflow. It “will not be televised, livestreamed, or broadcasted in any way,” and recording devices are banned in the courtroom and the adjoining lobby.

How Does This Hearing Fit into the Bigger Rescheduling Picture?

The April 2026 action by Acting AG Blanche already moved FDA-approved cannabis medicines and state-licensed medical marijuana into Schedule III. That shift is producing real results for some operators. The IRS will no longer enforce Section 280E, the tax rule that blocked standard business deductions, for state-licensed medical cannabis businesses. The ATF updated a gun purchase form to recognize medical marijuana’s federally legal status, and the DEA opened a registration process for state-legal businesses.

This hearing goes further, asking whether all marijuana, including adult-use cannabis, should land in Schedule III. The stakes touch millions of consumers still stuck in a legal gray zone.

Worth remembering: a prior rescheduling hearing under the Biden administration stalled amid litigation over alleged improper communications and witness selection. The current effort also faces several lawsuits, now consolidated in a federal appeals court, plus a congressional committee vote to block further rescheduling steps. This road is far from finished.

A Hearing Built to Hear One Side

The Preliminary Order is clean, detailed, and procedurally sound. Judge Julius did his job. The trouble sits upstream, with the DEA’s decision to fill the room with opponents and turn away every advocate who asked to participate. A historic federal proceeding on cannabis policy will play out without a single patient, consumer, or reform group at the table, even though more than 70 percent of public comments backed loosening restrictions.

If you want to follow how this plays out, the hearing dates to watch are June 29 through July 15, 2026. Keep an eye on the post-hearing briefs and the consolidated appeals court litigation, since those will likely shape the outcome more than the testimony itself. For ongoing coverage of the rescheduling fight and what it means for patients, consumers, and operators, subscribe to the Beard Bros Friday Sesh.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the DEA marijuana rescheduling hearing start?

The hearing begins June 29, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. ET at the DEA Hearing Facility in Arlington, Virginia, and must conclude by July 15, 2026.

Who is the judge overseeing the marijuana rescheduling hearing?

Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius is the ALJ designated by the DEA Administrator to hear the case. He signed the Preliminary Order on June 18, 2026.

Who is participating in the DEA rescheduling hearing?

Seven Interested Parties, all opponents of cannabis reform: NDASA, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, SAM, the states of Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, and Louisiana, DUID Victim Voices, Kenneth Finn M.D., and Phillip A. Drum PharmD. The government is also a Designated Party.

Why were pro cannabis groups excluded?

The DEA ruled that supporters of rescheduling do not meet the federal definition of an “interested person” because the proposed rule does not “adversely affect or aggrieve” them.

Will the hearing be livestreamed?

No. The Preliminary Order prohibits televising, livestreaming, or broadcasting the hearing. While the public can attend in person on a first-come basis, the court prohibits recording devices.