Cannabis rescheduling is not a top priority of President Donald Trump’s newly sworn-in Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) administrator, Terrance Cole, despite the promise he made three months ago.
After he was sworn in as the agency’s head on July 23, Cole released a list on July 25 of his top eight strategic priorities that “reflect a renewed focus on enforcement, partnership and public safety to meet the evolving threats of the global drug crisis.”
Absent from that list was reviewing where the DEA stands on a proposed rule to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), something Cole said would be “one of my first priorities” during his Senate confirmation hearing in April. Cole told U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee members that “it’s time to move forward” with the rescheduling hearing process that’s been delayed by an interlocutory appeal since January.
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However, it appears Cole has changed his order of operations.
Instead of listing the cannabis rescheduling process as a top priority, Cole placed an urgency on fighting foreign terrorist organizations, from targeting drug traffickers to dismantling Mexican cartels and disrupting the supply chain for illicit fentanyl manufacturers.
These strategic priorities reflect Cole’s 22-year career as a DEA special agent, before he retired from federal service in 2020 and, in 2023, began serving as Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security under Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“As I once again walk through the doors of DEA, I am reminded of the passion and commitment I carried as a special agent, the same passion that drives the men and women in this agency,” Cole said in a July 25 press release. “The gravity of DEA’s mission was clear as I stood witness to President Donald Trump signing the Halt Fentanyl Act surrounded by angel families holding onto the memories of those they lost. They are the reason we remain focused, determined and unwavering.”
The Halt Fentanyl Act permanently classifies fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs under the CSA. While cannabis is currently listed among heroin, LSD and ecstasy as the most controlled drugs with a Schedule I status, fentanyl is listed as a Schedule II drug. Despite its deadly nature, fentanyl has a currently accepted medical use in the U.S.
“The cartels and foreign terrorist organizations fueling this crisis are global in reach—and so is the DEA,” Cole said. “With the support of the Trump administration, the Department of Justice [DOJ], and our international, federal, state, local and tribal partners, we will dismantle these violent cartels and make America safe again.”
While Cole omitted any mention of cannabis in the July 25 swearing-in announcement, that doesn’t mean the DEA administrator won’t live up to his promise: to merely review where the DEA is in the administrative process to reschedule cannabis.
While Cole said in his April confirmation hearing that “it’s time to move forward” on the delayed hearing process—to debate the merits of the DOJ’s Schedule III proposed rule—he never committed to following through on the proposal. Also, he said that he was unfamiliar with where the administrative law judge hearing stood, other than that it was delayed.
“If confirmed, I will give the matter careful consideration after consulting with appropriate personnel within the Drug Enforcement Administration, familiarizing myself with the current status of the regulatory process, and reviewing all relevant information,” Cole said in May in response to written questions for the record.
Most recently, John J. Mulrooney II, the DEA’s chief administrative law judge tasked with overseeing a fair and transparent hearing process, announced July 23 that he is retiring on Aug. 1, upon which time he will no longer have jurisdiction over the rescheduling hearing.
Mulrooney’s successor will pick up full jurisdiction over the hearing process only if Cole fixes a briefing schedule to allow for the hearing’s designated participants to weigh in on the interlocutory appeal, which stems from claims by pro-rescheduling participants that the DEA colluded with anti-rescheduling participants through improper ex parte communications.
Separately, a pro-rescheduling party that was denied participation in the hearing process exposed the DEA for sending “cure letters” to several anti-rescheduling entities, providing them the opportunity to submit supplemental information showing that they met the “interested person” status under the Administrative Procedure Act to participate.
After Cole sets a briefing schedule and allows designated participants to weigh in, he can entertain oral arguments, “if he desires,” and then can issue a binding written decision to Mulrooney’s successor on whether the hearing process should resume. Again, Cole indicated during his April confirmation hearing that resuming the process was his intention.
However, the DEA head also said that it’d be one of his “first priorities,” which no longer seems to be the case.
