DEA Final Order Creates Federal Pathway For Medical Marijuana

Federal cannabis law has never tracked cleanly with the illicit, and then state-legal markets that grew up around it. For decades, marijuana was listed on Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act, while states built medical programs of their own. In 2018, the DEA took its first baby step regarding marijuana, placing certain FDA-approved cannabidiol products on Schedule V rather than treating them as Schedule I marijuana. Now, DEA’s April 23, 2026 final order on FDA-approved and state-licensed medical marijuana products places three sets of products and activities on Schedule III under 21 U.S.C. § 811(d)(1):

1. Marijuana within an FDA-approved product,
2. Marijuana cultivated and sold under qualifying state medical marijuana licenses, and