It’s fair to say nobody expected President Donald Trump to change federal marijuana policy in his first 100 days.
And it seems certain he won’t get it done based on a new filing Thursday confirming that a historic multiyear process launched by the Biden administration “remains pending.”
Nearly 90 days have passed since the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s chief administrative law judge, John Mulrooney II, halted the formal process to reclassify marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act.
In that time, marijuana rescheduling supporters’ “interlocutory appeal” hasn’t advanced under the DEA’s acting administrator, Derek Maltz, according to a joint statement presented to Mulrooney April 10.
Thursday’s Joint Status Report from James Schwartz, a deputy chief at the DEA’s Office of Chief Counsel, and Shane Pennington, attorney for the two entities that filed a motion to disqualify the DEA from overseeing the rescheduling process, was due April 13.
That’s three months since Mulrooney’s Jan. 13 order paused the reclassification of marijuana from a prohibited substance to a legitimately accepted medicine.
“To date, Movants’ interlocutory appeal to the Acting Administrator regarding their Motion to Reconsider remains pending with the Acting Administrator,” the joint status report said.
“No briefing schedule has been set.”
Processing the interlocutory challenge brought by Village Farms International and Hemp for Victory is solely up to the DEA.
The cannabis industry has pinned its hopes on Trump, who endorsed moving marijuana to Schedule 3 in September but hasn’t touched the issue since.
And Congress hasn’t yet scheduled nomination hearings for Trump’s choice to lead the DEA, Terrance Cole.
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