Adam Goers On DEA’s Rescheduling Updates

In our latest Trade To Black podcast, Adam Goers joins TDR hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell to discuss the disappointing news about cannabis rescheduling. Adam is the SVP of Corporate Affairs from The Cannabist Company Holdings (Cboe: CBST, OTCQX: CBSTF) and is also the Co-Chair of Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling.

On Monday, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that they were scheduling a hearing on the proposal to reclassify cannabis for December 2, 2024, at 9 a.m. ET. This means that any sort of decision on changing marijuana from a Class I drug would be effectively delayed until after the election.

The announcement has left many cannabis investors and advocates—not to mention the cannabis cultivators and dispensaries—frustrated. Because without rescheduling, there is no tax relief on 280e, which would help the industry find profitability more easily.

To recap in brief what has happened with the federal process, President Biden ordered a review of marijuana policy in October, 2022. In January, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined cannabis would be eligible for a lower classification under federal drug laws. Following that, the DEA agreed to approve the effort to reschedule cannabis in April. That opened a 60 day public comment period in May which ended July 22, 2024.

So, you and many others may be wondering: what’s next? What kind of timeline are we looking at? And why did so many people believe that cannabis rescheduling would be announced prior to the election, and that an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearing would not take place? Adam Goers was on the podcast discussing rescheduling last week, and he was one of those who was very confident that an ALJ hearing would not happen.

Is cannabis rescheduling in trouble? We’ll break down the reasoning and how long a delay we’re likely to see in finally seeing the announcement.