The rescheduling fight isn’t over — the hearing that decides adult-use starts Monday

The DEA confirmed this week that its expedited hearing on marijuana rescheduling opens Monday, June 29, at headquarters in Arlington, with proceedings set to wrap by mid-July. It is the part of the rescheduling saga that actually matters to most operators on Crushed.

Here is the split that is easy to miss in the headlines: back in April, an order moved FDA-approved marijuana products and state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III. But adult-use cannabis in recreational states stayed in Schedule I, pending exactly this hearing. So for the shops and brands serving the rec market, nothing has changed yet — the tax relief everyone is waiting on is still on the other side of this process.

That tax question is the whole game. The 280E provision has taxed plant-touching businesses on gross profit for years, and a full move to Schedule III is what unwinds it for the broader market. Until the hearing record is closed and a final rule lands, operators outside the medical lane are budgeting as if 280E still applies — because it does.

For creators and brands here, the practical read is: watch the hearing, not the press releases. The transcript will tell you whether the rec market’s relief is months away or stuck in another round of litigation.