On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice, through the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), commenced the rulemaking process to reschedule marijuana accordingly. The DEA’s notice of proposed rulemaking is currently in a 60-day public comment period, and the DEA’s rulemaking process is complex and lengthy.
In this episode, Hilary Bricken and John Hudak, Director of the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy and former Brookings Institution cannabis policy researcher, discuss the DEA’s historic rulemaking in this instance, covering timelines, legal technicalities, political aspects, and potential future federal and state government actions with this novel rescheduling, including a possible bifurcated marijuana system between pharmaceutical grade cannabis-derived drugs and state-licensed marketplaces.