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The DEA’s historic cannabis rescheduling hearing is officially underway, but it’s already facing major backlash for gatekeeping the conversation. Pro-reform activists, medical experts, and legal business owners gathered outside DEA headquarters to protest being completely shut out of the proceedings, which the agency is also refusing to livestream. Advocates argue that by handpicking only anti-reform witnesses and offering nothing more than an after-the-fact transcript, the DEA is running a closed-door process that lacks real transparency. There is deep skepticism across the industry about whether an agency with a decades-long history of aggressive prohibition can be trusted to fairly arbitrate the shift to Schedule III.
Despite the intense drama surrounding the hearing itself, the broader transition of state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III is already triggering some massive, real-world shifts. Federal agencies are pivoting quickly to adapt: the IRS is preparing new tax guidance that will finally allow cannabis dispensaries to write off standard business expenses, the ATF is updating gun purchase forms to protect medical marijuana users, and even the DEA has launched a registration process for state-legal businesses. So while the hearing process feels frustratingly locked down, the momentum toward federal reform is already reshaping the financial and legal landscape for the industry. Just not in Tennessee, which remains in lockdown.
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Read the original article: Marijuana Activists Say They’re Being ‘Shut Out’ Of DEA’s Rescheduling Hearing That Features Only Legalization Opponents
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