The Trump administration moved medical cannabis to Schedule III in April; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held an administrative hearing to reschedule all cannabis in July; and yet what it all means moving forward remains largely unknown.
State-licensed medical cannabis operators who applied for DEA registration don’t know the whole compliance picture, the Treasury Department hasn’t released tax guidance on Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, and the DEA’s administrative law judge who oversaw the hearing process has yet to issue his recommendation.
Cannabis Business Times contributor Julie A. Werner-Simon’s breakdown of the latest gaps in this developing rescheduling storyline was the No. 1 article readers did not want to miss this month. She called out the federal government’s lack of transparency about the DEA’s registration application process, which Attorney General Todd Blanche included in his April order.
“After the AG’s order, it can be argued, at a minimum, that those businesses selling state-licensed medical marijuana who registered with the DEA within the 60-day window are no longer engaged in federally illegal activity,” Werner-Simon wrote. “For many operators, the decision to register with the DEA was part of a broader compliance analysis, in which consultation with both legal and tax professionals was essential.”
Other articles CBT readers did not want to miss this month included those on a federal court decision in a federal rescheduling challenge, Congress’ four-week reprieve for certain intoxicating hemp products facing a federal ban, and legislation aiming to treat cannabis users no differently than others in federal employment opportunities.
In the No. 2 spot, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a pair of anti-rescheduling parties in their motion to stay the Trump administration’s Schedule III order for medical cannabis.
In the No. 3 spot, U.S. House lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the Senate’s stopgap funding measure that included a provision to delay the federal government’s forthcoming ban on most intoxicating hemp products by four weeks. President Donald Trump signed the measure the next day.
And the fourth most-read article in September featured bipartisan legislation, the Cannabis Users’ Restoration of Eligibility (CURE) Act, which a pair of U.S. House members filed to allow Americans who use cannabis to seek federal employment, including jobs that require U.S. security clearances.
Don’t miss out on the rest of our Top 10 stories from September 2026.
