RE:Transitioning to Schedule III Next Steps What exactly happens next in the process is about as clear as mud, because the DEA has wide discretion in how fast or how slowly it will move in coming weeks and months, said attorney Shane Pennington, who has made a close study of the rescheduling procedure.
Pennington said it’s been frustrating watching as misinformation swirls online and on social media platforms over how rescheduling may play out because he said too many stakeholders are pushing uninformed theories that suit what they want to see happen.
“It’s so exhausting, all of the misinformation that’s out there,” Pennington said. “People have rose-colored glasses on because they really hope it’ll get done quickly… There are a lot of things that could get thrown in the mix that could make (the rescheduling process move) faster or slower.”
The next move by the DEA, Pennington said, is to sift through all of the comments in order to discern if any of them raise “significant” legal or factual questions that must be addressed. The DEA will also almost certainly find it necessary to issue some level of response to certain comments, depending on their legal thrust, Pennington said.
After that, the DEA could move forward with publishing a final rule in the federal register, but before that the agency will need to decide whether or not to hold an administrative hearing about the rule.
“Really, at any point, before there’s a final rule, they could issue a notice that they’re going to have a hearing. They also might not. No one knows, outside of the government,” he said. “Until we get a final rule, we won’t know if they’re going to have a hearing.”
If that happens, it could stretch out the timeline even more, Pennington warned.
“It’s not possible to give concrete timelines. It is feasible for this to get done before the election. I don’t think it’s feasible if they grant a hearing,” he said. “Generally, hearings take a while, If they’re going to grant one here, I’m sure there would be a big fight, and it would probably push it out past the election. Even apart from that, there’s no guarantee … even if there isn’t a hearing, that it’ll get done before the election, for a number of reasons.”
https://www.greenmarketreport.com/the-dea-marijuana-rescheduling-comment-period-is-over-whats-next/