Short answer

The Drug Enforcement Administration proposed moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. The rule appeared in the Federal Register on May 21, 2024, at 89 FR 44597, docket DEA-2024-0059. DEA opened a comment period, extended it, and reopened it after announcing an administrative hearing. Comments enter the rulemaking record. They do not bind the agency. DEA has issued no final rule.

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Convenience is not one of the eight statutory scheduling factors in 21 U.S.C. 811(c). Commenters raise it anyway. The common arguments are tax treatment under 280E, banking access, research barriers, and state program stability. Those are results of the schedule, not criteria for changing it.

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Timeline of the docket

  • August 2023: HHS recommended Schedule III in a letter to DEA.
  • May 21, 2024: DEA published the proposed rule, 89 FR 44597.
  • July 22, 2024: the first comment window closed.
  • Late 2024: DEA announced a hearing and reopened comments for a set period.
  • January 21, 2025: the administrative hearing opened before a DEA administrative law judge.
  • Final rule: not issued as of this writing. The date is unknown.

The docket drew tens of thousands of comments. Duplicate form letters are grouped and counted as one point.

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What the agency weighs

Scheduling and rescheduling turn on eight factors in 21 U.S.C. 811(c):

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  1. Actual or relative potential for abuse.
  2. Scientific evidence of pharmacological effect, if known.
  3. State of current scientific knowledge.
  4. History and current pattern of abuse.
  5. Scope, duration, and significance of abuse.
  6. Risk to public health.
  7. Psychic or physiological dependence liability.
  8. Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a controlled substance.

Schedule III also requires an accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. HHS found that standard met. DEA is not required to follow the HHS finding.

Positions in the record

Commenters split into four groups. One supports Schedule III. One wants cannabis removed from the Controlled Substances Act. One wants Schedule II. One opposes any change. State attorneys general, medical associations, and law enforcement groups filed on both sides.

How to file a comment

  1. Find the docket at regulations.gov by number: DEA-2024-0059.
  2. State your position in the first two sentences.
  3. Tie each claim to a factor in 21 U.S.C. 811(c) or to the medical use finding.
  4. Give data, or describe direct experience with patients, licenses, or research.
  5. Identify yourself: patient, clinician, researcher, licensee, or resident.
  6. Comment during an open window. Late comments may not enter the record.

What convenience does to the argument

A comment that says cannabis is hard to bank or hard to tax describes the status quo. It does not answer factor one, factor four, or factor six. A comment that links access problems to public health outcomes, or links Schedule III status to abuse liability, gives the agency something to weigh. Practical effects can support a scheduling argument. By themselves they are not a scheduling argument.