After considering what little input he had from the public, Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz announced July 7 that he will forgo aligning the state’s cannabis policies with a recent federal reclassification.
Kautz, who also serves as Wyoming’s commissioner of drugs and substance control in his capacity as the attorney general, held a public hearing on June 18 to allow interested parties the opportunity to be heard on his prior objection to reclassifying certain cannabis products as a Schedule III substance in the same manner as federal law.
Under Wyoming law, if the federal government designates, reschedules or deletes a substance under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, then the state commissioner “shall control” that substance “in the same manner” under the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act (CSA) within 30 days, unless the commissioner “objects” to such a policy alignment.
After Kautz objected on May 27, he was required by law to allow interested parties to be heard, yet only nine individuals expressed interest.
Those nine individuals included four email commenters who supported leaving cannabis as a Schedule I drug, four email commenters who supported placing cannabis on Schedule III of the Wyoming CSA, and one person who attended the hearing in person to provide testimony requesting that the commissioner leave cannabis listed in Schedule I.
“After considering all of the comments from interested parties, the commissioner has determined that all marijuana products, including marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license, shall remain on Schedule I of the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act,” according to the July 7 announcement from Kautz’s office.
The attorney general’s final decision comes after U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an April 2026 order that immediately rescheduled state-licensed medical cannabis and cannabis products and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cannabis products to Schedule III under the federal CSA. The order included cannabis extracts and naturally derived delta-9 THC within the context of rescheduled products.
“The commissioner will appropriately schedule products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration once that agency has approved the product,” Kautz’s announcement states.
“As stated in the original objection to the rescheduling, the decision to reschedule medical marijuana and marijuana products is an important policy decision that is best left with the Wyoming Legislature and should not be done through the administrative rulemaking process.”
Without legislative action, Wyoming maintains some of the least permissive cannabis policies in the nation, including criminalization with the possibility of six months behind bars for being under the influence of cannabis, up to 12 months of incarceration for possessing 3 ounces or less, and up to five years in prison for possessing more than 3 ounces. Selling or distributing any amount is a felony punishable by 10 years of incarceration and a $10,000 fine.
Wyoming also remains one of eight states in the nation without a licensed and regulated medical cannabis program, even a highly restrictive program, as seen in Texas and Iowa.
Kautz, in his dual capacity as the commissioner, objected to loosening Wyoming’s scheduling restrictions on cannabis on two bases, including the fact that the state Legislature has not legalized medical cannabis nor approved recognizing any other state’s licensing scheme.
“Therefore, placing marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license in Schedule III of the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act is inconsistent with the police powers exercised to date by the Wyoming Legislature,” Kautz’s announcement states.
Second, the commissioner objected to loosening the control status of cannabis because he said the state already classifies all FDA-approved cannabinoid products consistent with federal law, referencing Dronabinol’s (Marinol and Syndros) Schedule III listing; Cesamet’s (nabilone) Schedule II listing; and Epidiolex, a plant-derived CBD prescription that the Drug Enforcement Administration removed entirely from the CSA in 2020.
“The final rule issued by the acting United States attorney general did not affect the scheduling of these substances,” Kautz’s announcement states. “The commissioner will continue to appropriately control individual substances as they are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.”
While 85% of Wyoming residents support legalizing medical cannabis, according to a December 2020 poll conducted by the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming, activists’ last attempt to land a legalization question on the 2024 ballot was unsuccessful.
