Schedule III for FDA-approved products and state-licensed medical marijuana — not marijuana itself

On April 28, 2026, a Drug Enforcement Administration final rule moved two specific categories of marijuana material into Schedule III: FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana-derived delta-9-THC, and marijuana handled under a state medical-marijuana license. Marijuana outside those two categories stays in Schedule I.

The rule took effect that day [1], and was published in the Federal Register at 91 FR 22714 [1]. It reaches marijuana, marijuana extracts, and delta-9-THC and other compounds derived from the plant (other than mature stalks and seeds) that fall outside the definition of hemp — but only to the extent that material sits inside an FDA-approved drug product or is covered by a state medical marijuana license [1]. Everything else — unlicensed bulk marijuana, unlicensed extract, and even the delta-9-THC material used as an input to make the FDA-approved products — remains Schedule I [1]. Synthetically derived THC is not "marijuana" under the Controlled Substances Act and stays in Schedule I regardless of this rule [1]. Hemp's status is unchanged, since hemp is excluded from the definition of marijuana [1]. Drug products already rescheduled out of Schedule I before this rule — Marinol and Syndros are named examples — are not touched by it [1], and previously scheduled synthetic cannabinoids are likewise unaffected [1]. The rule adds these newly rescheduled drugs to the list of substances that require an import or export permit [1].

This is not the long-anticipated move of marijuana itself to Schedule III. That remains a separate rulemaking that is still only proposed and not yet in force [2], first put forward in a notice of proposed rulemaking published May 21, 2024 [2]. That transfer would take effect only if DEA later publishes a final rule following a hearing [2]; a hearing on it is now scheduled to begin June 29, 2026, at 9 a.m. ET, and to conclude no later than July 15, 2026 [2]. DEA withdrew its earlier, August 2024 notice of hearing on that proposal and terminated the proceedings under it on the same day this final rule published [3], replacing it with a new notice of hearing in the same Federal Register issue [3]. Executive Order 14370 directs the Attorney General to complete the marijuana-rescheduling rulemaking as expeditiously as federal law allows [2], but until DEA publishes that final rule, marijuana itself — outside the two categories this rule actually moved — remains Schedule I as a matter of federal law.

References

1. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Food and Drug Administration Approved Products Containing Marijuana From Schedule I to Schedule III; Corresponding Change to Permit Requirements — Federal Register
2. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Marijuana — Federal Register
3. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Marijuana; Withdrawal — Federal Register