Justice Department Moves Limited Marijuana Products to Schedule III, Sets Fast-Track Hearing on Broader Rescheduling

The Justice Department said Thursday it has immediately moved a narrow set of marijuana-related products into Schedule III under federal drug law, while launching a separate fast-track hearing on the much larger question of whether marijuana overall should be reclassified from Schedule I to Schedule III.

The change, announced April 23, applies only to two categories: FDA-approved products containing marijuana and medicinal marijuana products regulated by a qualifying state-issued medical marijuana license. It does not mean all marijuana has been moved to Schedule III. The broader question of marijuana’s federal status remains unresolved and is now set for an administrative hearing beginning June 29, 2026.

The department said the action carries out President Donald Trump’s Dec. 18, 2025, executive order, “Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research.” DOJ said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is taking the scheduling action under his authority to reschedule drugs as needed to carry out U.S. obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty governing controlled substances.

At the same time, DOJ said it is resetting the long-running federal rescheduling process. The Drug Enforcement Administration is withdrawing the prior notice of hearing and ending the earlier proceedings tied to the government’s previous proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. That earlier track began with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published May 21, 2024, followed by a notice of hearing published Aug. 29, 2024. DOJ said a new Federal Register notice of hearing is being published for the new process, which is scheduled to start June 29.

That procedural split is central to the announcement. Before Thursday’s action, marijuana remained in Schedule I federally, even as many states created medical marijuana programs. DOJ had already opened a broader rescheduling process in 2024 but had not completed it. Thursday’s order creates an immediate federal change for the products specifically covered, while leaving the status of marijuana more generally for the upcoming hearing.

The distinction matters because Schedule I drugs face stricter federal controls than Schedule III drugs, especially in research. By moving the covered products out of Schedule I, the department is making a more limited shift that is expected to ease some of the research barriers tied to Schedule I classification, at least for those products. DOJ did not say that all marijuana businesses or products would now be treated as Schedule III under federal law.

In its announcement, the department described the hearing process as expedited and said the June proceeding will address the broader proposal to move marijuana itself from Schedule I to Schedule III. DEA Administrator Terry Cole said, “Under the direction of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche, DEA is expeditiously moving forward with the administrative hearing process — bringing consistency and oversight to an area that has lacked both.”

DOJ also framed the immediate order as part of a medical access and research initiative, while emphasizing that federal anti-trafficking controls remain in place. “The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options,” Blanche said. The department said the narrower Schedule III action and the broader hearing process are intended to proceed together, but only the specified FDA-approved and qualifying state-licensed medical marijuana products are being moved immediately.