US rescheduling, in two tracks: what has changed, what is still waiting, and the dates that matter

There are two rescheduling stories running at once in the United States, and most of the confusion comes from reading one as if it were the other.

The first is finished law. On 23 April 2026 the Acting Attorney General issued a final order moving two things from Schedule I to Schedule III: cannabis in an FDA-approved drug, and cannabis "subject to a state medical marijuana license". It took effect on 28 April, when it was published in the Federal Register (91 Fed. Reg. 22714), using the treaty provision in 21 U.S.C. § 811(d) that allows a scheduling change without notice and comment. Everything else, including every adult-use product, stayed in Schedule I.

The second is still a hearing. The same day, the DEA opened an expedited proceeding on whether all cannabis should move to Schedule III. Testimony ran from 29 June to 15 July. The judge's recommendation has been on hold since 29 September, and the last written arguments are due on 5 November.

What happened on 30 October

The medical track moved. The Department of Justice announced that the DEA had granted federal registrations to more than 900 dispensaries in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia: the first phase, covering businesses that applied inside the order's 60-day window (28 April to 26 June) and passed a pre-registration check. Manufacturers and distributors are still being reviewed. Those need inspections, production controls and quota decisions, and no date was given.

The April order had asked the DEA to "make every effort" to process applications within six months. That date was 28 October. The registrations, the list of applicants and the guidance arrived two days later, and the dedicated application forms for manufacturers, distributors and laboratories, promised "in the coming weeks" over the summer, only went live in early October. That lateness is one reason businesses have been working from secondhand summaries rather than from the documents.

The guidance itself is a four-page DEA paper, Activities of Entities Holding State Medical Marijuana Licenses Who Applied for DEA Registration. It says what it is: "The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way." What it describes is how the DEA reads the existing rules during the transition.

• A Timely Applicant is a business that filed a complete application and paid the fee between 28 April and 26 June 2026, still holds its state medical licence, and whose application is still pending.
• Timely Applicants may deal with other Timely Applicants and with DEA registrants. Timely Applicants and registrants "may not lawfully engage in any schedule III medical marijuana activities" with anyone else. Doing so "could be potential grounds for denial of a Timely Applicant's application or revocation of a certificate of registration".
• Timely Applicants "are expected to complete these activities and establish compliant supply chains no later than November 29, 2026".
• Dispensers and distributors may keep selling stock acquired before the paper was issued, "including inventory previously obtained from entities that do not qualify".
• Testing: the DEA "does not intend to penalize" sending de minimis quantities to a non-registered laboratory in the same state, with full records, but product may not come back from one.

The dates

Four things being mixed up

A registration is not a licence, and a licence is not a registration. The Department of Justice says so in terms: state licensure "does not automatically" grant federal registration, and a registered dispensary now has to meet federal rules on security, record-keeping and inventory. Roughly 900 businesses are registered; 6,983 locations applied. Oklahoma alone has 2,442 entries on the list and no registrations yet, because the first phase covered seven other states.

29 November is not a grace period. It is the date by which Timely Applicants should have checked every trading partner and rebuilt their supply chain. It does not say new purchases from non-qualifying suppliers are fine until then; only stock bought before 30 October is protected. And the guidance gives Timely Applicants that date; it does not plainly give already-registered businesses the same window.

280E relief is announced, not written. In April, Treasury said it expected to treat the change as applying for the whole taxable year that includes 28 April, for activities that no longer involve a Schedule I or II substance. Six months on, the only formal step is a line in the 2026-27 priority guidance plan. Until a notice is published, the transition rule is a stated intention. Businesses that run medical and adult-use side by side should expect an apportionment rule. The Department of Transportation has already said the April order changes nothing in its drug-testing rules.

The hearing is about something the April order did not do. The April order never touched adult-use cannabis, and the 22 October order does not extend it. If the broader proceeding ends with all cannabis in Schedule III, that is a new final order with its own effective date, open to challenge in court like the first one. The judge's recommendation, the Administrator's decision and the 30 days after publication all still have to happen, and the briefing only closes on 5 November.

What to do this month

• If you applied between 28 April and 26 June: pull your DEA submission confirmation, verify its document control number, collect your partners' confirmations or certificates, confirm their state licences are active, and keep the file. Do it before 29 November.
• If you did not apply in the window: you are not a Timely Applicant. A late or incomplete application does not count, and registered businesses are told not to trade with you until your registration is granted.
• If you are registered: assume the federal security, inventory and record-keeping rules apply from the date on your certificate, and check which laboratory you use.
• For tax: keep separate books for medical and adult-use activity now. The apportionment question is the one Treasury has said it will answer.

This is information, not legal advice. The documents are linked below; read them before acting on a summary of them, including this one. Green Ark will update this article as the dates move.

Sources

• Department of Justice, "Justice Department Announces Issuance of Federal Registrations for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries", 30 October 2026
• DEA, "Activities of Entities Holding State Medical Marijuana Licenses Who Applied for DEA Registration", 30 October 2026
• Final rule, 91 Fed. Reg. 22714, and hearing notice, 91 Fed. Reg. 22777 (28 April 2026), summarised by Gibson Dunn
• Foley Hoag, DOJ, Treasury and DEA updates since the 23 April order and on the October application forms
• Harris Sliwoski (via Legal 500) on the 29 September stay
• The 22 October order and the briefing dates
• Kocot Law on the Timely Applicant guidance
• Marijuana Moment on the guidance
• Treasury's 2026-27 priority guidance plan, as reported
• Timeline and the 2026 tax-year arithmetic