The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made its final arguments in an administrative hearing process that cannabis no longer meets the statutory requirements of a Schedule I substance and better aligns with a Schedule III classification.
The agency also focused on discrediting all but one opposing witness in its post-hearing brief filed Aug. 17 with DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius, who oversaw the 11-day cannabis rescheduling proceedings that concluded on July 15.
This U-turn from the DEA’s 50-plus-year posture of defending cannabis’ classification as a drug with the highest potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use under the Controlled Substances Act was the top attention-grabber for Cannabis Business Times’ readers this month.
“Marijuana can no longer remain in Schedule I,” the DEA argued in its brief, pointing to the plant’s current landscape of medical use in the U.S., including more than 30,000 practitioners treating more than 6 million patients in 43 U.S. jurisdictions. “The vast majority of individuals who use marijuana do so in a manner that does not result in dangers to themselves or to their communities.”
The DEA also criticized its former Schedule I bedfellows.
“The opposed parties called several witnesses and attempted to designate them as expert witnesses,” the DEA argued. “Many of the so-called expert witnesses do not have the qualifications to be recognized as an expert witness. For the ones who actually possessed the requisite credentials to be recognized as an expert in their respective fields, the opposed party solicited testimony that was well beyond the scope of their expertise or asked them to opine on matters that are not relevant to the ultimate issue. The tribunal should give such testimony little to no weight.”
Other articles CBT readers did not want to miss this month included a Michigan retailer citing a new 24% tax burden that led it to close five dispensaries; the U.S. Senate’s vote to delay the intoxicating hemp THC product ban; and the emerging science of cannabis flavor that goes beyond terpenes.
In the No. 2 spot, Michigan-based Higher Love Cannabis Co. announced it closed five of its nine dispensaries across the state’s Upper Peninsula, a decision company officials said was driven primarily by the mounting tax burden on the state’s adult-use cannabis industry.
In the No. 3 spot, the U.S. Senate approved a provision in its continuing resolution that aims to provide a four-week reprieve for most hemp-derived cannabinoid products, potentially postponing the federal government’s prohibitive language until Dec. 11.
And in the No. 4 spot, CBT contributor Craig Hartsough – a fifth-generation farmer – dove into recent research showing that flavor depends on far more than terpenes alone. (Part II of this terpene series, "The Flavor Labs Don’t Measure: What is Terpene Testing Missing?" is now published.)
Don’t miss out on the rest of our Top 10 stories from August 2026.
