What actually happened
On April 22, 2026, the Justice Department signed a final order moving two narrow categories of marijuana — FDA-approved products and state-licensed medical cannabis — from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, effective immediately. It flows from President Trump's December 2025 executive order directing the DOJ to expedite rescheduling.
The headline reads like prohibition ended. It didn't. The order is deliberately narrow, and the bigger question — whether all cannabis, including the adult-use market, drops to Schedule III — gets decided through a separate DEA hearing that opens June 29. That hearing is the whole ballgame.
Changed
- FDA-approved cannabis drug products → Schedule III
- State-licensed medical cannabis → Schedule III
- Section 280E tax penalty lifts for those medical operators — effective rates can fall from ~70% toward 21%
- Federally easier medical research pathway
Did NOT change
- Adult-use / recreational cannabis stays Schedule I
- Banking — rescheduling gives banks & insurers no safe harbor (only the SAFER Banking Act does)
- Interstate commerce remains prohibited
- 280E still fully applies to adult-use operations
Where things stand
Executive order
President Trump directs the DOJ/DEA to expedite moving marijuana to Schedule III.
Final order — medical reschedules
Acting AG signs the order; FDA-approved and state-licensed medical cannabis become Schedule III, effective immediately.
Court stay bid + participant jockeying
Prohibitionist groups petition the D.C. Circuit to freeze the order; NORML and others file to participate in the hearing.
DEA broad-rescheduling hearing opens
9 a.m. ET, Arlington VA. Considers whether cannabis broadly drops to Schedule III — which would sweep in adult-use.
Hearing concludes
Record closes. A final rule could still take months to issue afterward.
Final rule (if it comes)
A broad Schedule III final rule would extend relief to the adult-use market. Not guaranteed — and challengeable in court.
The hearing scorecard
The players lining up around the June 29 proceeding and the court challenge.
Three rooms, three reads
Medical-heavy operators get tax relief now; adult-use names trade June 29 as a binary catalyst. 280E relief could lift top-MSO after-tax profit by up to 70%.
The hearing record becomes the legal foundation — or the weakness — for any final rule. Banking and the hemp ban move on separate tracks in Congress.
Dual-license MSOs must now split medical vs. adult-use cost accounting. Messy — but the messiness is exactly where the savings hide.
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