When we published our last update in December, the operative question was whether the administration would follow through on its rescheduling directive, and on what timeline. On April 22, 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order with immediate effect, moving state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved cannabis products from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.1 Rather than completing the traditional notice-and-comment rulemaking process, which had already extended across two administrations, the Department of Justice invoked treaty compliance authority under 21 U.S.C. § 811(d)(1), the same mechanism the DEA used in 2018 to schedule certain FDA-approved CBD products, allowing the order to take effect immediately. The legal and commercial implications are substantial. So are the limitations.2
