DEA judge stays marijuana rescheduling hearing over GAO report motion
A Sept. 29 stay in DEA hearing docket 26-96 sets Oct. 13 for a response to a motion seeking to add the GAO report to the record.
Theo Marchetti
The Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge stayed the marijuana rescheduling hearing on Sept. 29 while he considers a motion to add a government audit to the record. Trulieve Cannabis Corp. NYSETRLV reported 207 DEA-registered dispensaries in medical-only states in its September investor presentation; the next date in the broader federal case is now an Oct. 13 government response.
Trulieve shares NYSETRLV traded at US$10.38, down 16.36 per cent, in New York at 2:38 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The share quote records the move but does not establish what caused it.
The order covers DEA docket 1362 and hearing docket 26-96. The hearing ran from June 29 to July 15, after which three interested parties filed a Sept. 28 motion asking the judge to admit a Government Accountability Office report, allow additional briefing and hold the recommended decision while that briefing proceeds.
The judge stayed the case pending resolution of that motion. He has yet to decide whether to admit the report or allow the extra briefs, so the order does not itself change marijuana's status under the broader proposal.
"In the meantime, the Government is ORDERED to file a response to the instant Motion by no later than October 13, 2026," chief administrative law judge Derek Julius wrote in the order.
GAO Found Gaps In Scheduling Procedures
The GAO report, published Sept. 23, found that DEA lacks policies identifying staff roles, responsibilities and procedures for drug scheduling. It also found that the Food and Drug Administration lacks written procedures specifying how staff should conduct evaluations or develop scheduling recommendations.
The audit examined DEA scheduling actions from 2020 through 2025. For all 84 substances with final rules that required a federal health recommendation during that period, DEA's decisions aligned with the recommendation. The report recommended written procedures for both agencies; the three parties want the judge to consider it in this hearing.
The Sept. 29 stay applies to the hearing over a proposed transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
Trulieve's September presentation identifies the potential rescheduling of nonmedical marijuana and its tax implications as forward-looking subjects. In a December 2025 release, the company said Section 280E bars ordinary business-expense deductions for trafficking in Schedule I or II substances and would not apply to Schedule III. The stay sets no new tax amount for Trulieve and no date for a broader rule.
Read more: Trulieve gains exclusive Alien Labs and Connected rights in Florida, Texas
The judge allowed other interested parties to answer the motion by Oct. 13 but did not require them to do so. He limited the government's response to 20 double-spaced pages and set no deadline for a ruling on the motion or for a recommended decision. The next decision in this proceeding is whether the GAO report enters the record; the government's response is due Oct. 13.
