As the federal government prepares to revisit marijuana’s classification under the Controlled Substances Act, one of the country’s oldest cannabis advocacy organizations says it has been unfairly locked out of the conversation.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has formally asked the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reconsider its decision to exclude the group from participating in a major marijuana rescheduling hearing scheduled to begin on June 29. The hearing will examine whether cannabis should be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law.
According to NORML, the DEA approved participation from several organizations opposed to marijuana reform while denying a seat to the group that has spent more than five decades representing cannabis consumers and legalization advocates. The organization argues that any hearing intended to evaluate marijuana policy should include voices from the millions of Americans who legally use cannabis under state laws.
The dispute comes at a critical moment for federal cannabis policy. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice and DEA implemented a limited Schedule III classification for federally approved cannabis medicines and state-licensed medical marijuana programs while launching a separate expedited process to determine the status of cannabis more broadly. That hearing is expected to play a major role in shaping the next phase of federal marijuana policy.
NORML’s position is somewhat unique. While the group supports removing cannabis from Schedule I, it has repeatedly argued that Schedule III should be viewed as a stepping stone rather than the final destination. The organization continues to advocate for complete federal descheduling and a regulatory framework that treats adult-use cannabis as a legal consumer product rather than a controlled substance.
Critics of the DEA’s participant selection process say the agency risks creating a hearing that disproportionately reflects anti-cannabis viewpoints while excluding organizations that represent consumers, patients, and state-legal cannabis businesses. NORML contends that a fair and balanced record cannot be developed if the people most affected by federal marijuana laws are absent from the discussion.
With the hearing just days away, the DEA has yet to indicate whether it will reverse course. But the controversy is already raising questions about whether the process will genuinely reflect the modern realities of cannabis use in America—or simply replay the debates of the past.
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