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If you're waiting on federal rescheduling before putting money into another room, DEA's latest order gives you two dates to watch: October 29 for optional written arguments and November 5 for replies. It still doesn't give you a decision date. That's frustrating when you're trying to put an actual start date on a project, but neither deadline tells you when the broader Schedule III proposal will be settled.
The October 22 order lets a Government Accountability Office report into the case and keeps the hearing closed to more testimony and discovery. It doesn't authorize more cultivation. I'd keep the budget for work you can do under today's permissions separate from any expansion that needs a federal change.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius issued the October 22 DEA order after the main hearing, which ran June 29 through July 15, 2026. Parties opposing rescheduling wanted him to admit GAO's September report and reopen the hearing to question how the agencies had evaluated rescheduling.
Julius agreed to consider the report, but didn't see a reason to bring everyone back for more testimony. Some of the questions could have been asked during the hearing; others fell outside what he was deciding. He also concluded that the report speaks for itself, rather than reopening the hearing to examine the materials behind it.
Now the parties can argue how much weight he should give the report and, if it deserves weight, how it affects this case. Accepting it into the record doesn't mean he's accepted either side's reading of it. He's limited each brief and reply to ten double-spaced pages. Interested Parties can't reply to one another's briefs, and he's discouraged requests for more rounds.
The case remains paused until this briefing period closes, when the stay expires under the order's terms. November 5 is a filing deadline, not a promised date for a recommended decision, final rule or effective date. If you're planning construction, you still need a timeline that can handle that uncertainty.
The GAO report published September 23 looked at drug scheduling actions from 2020 through 2025. It found gaps in the agencies' written procedures: DEA didn't have comprehensive policies spelling out scheduling roles and responsibilities, while FDA lacked policies explaining how staff should conduct evaluations and develop recommendations. The agencies agreed to recommendations to improve those procedures and update an FDA-NIH memorandum.
GAO also found that DEA considered the Department of Health and Human Services' evaluations and recommendations wherever they were required. For substances with final rules published by December 31, 2025, DEA's decisions matched HHS recommendations. That finding covers drug scheduling across different substances; it doesn't describe previous marijuana decisions.
The report leaves both findings on the table: gaps in written procedures and DEA's consideration of the required health evaluations. The parties will now argue what that means for marijuana. Julius hasn't settled that disagreement by agreeing to read the report.
If you grow for a medical program, the part worth checking against your own licenses is the final rule effective April 28, 2026. It placed FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana, and marijuana covered by qualifying state medical marijuana licenses, in Schedule III. It also created an expedited DEA registration process for state medical marijuana license holders.
That's separate from the broader proposal now before Julius. Under the April rule, marijuana outside those categories remains in Schedule I. If your business serves both medical and adult-use markets, have counsel work through which licenses and activities qualify. The October order doesn't extend the medical rule's treatment to adult-use operations.
The tax side deserves its own check. The April rule discusses relief from Section 280E's restriction on deductions for qualifying state licensees, but says it doesn't determine federal tax liability and points licensees to tax counsel. Before you build those savings into the budget, have your adviser check which treatment applies to your business. Expected adult-use tax savings from the pending proposal aren't money you can count on to cover a deposit.
Say you're reviewing a quote that includes lighting for another room and replacement dehumidification equipment for rooms already running. Those purchases belong in different parts of your decision. One ties up money before new space earns anything; the other may be needed to maintain current production. Being on the same quote doesn't make them equally urgent.
Shared equipment takes a little more sorting. If the project includes additional environmental controls, separate the cost of supporting today's rooms from the cost of bringing new space online. Check whether you can carry the expansion portion if the opening slips. The supplier's payment schedule won't necessarily wait for DEA's.
After the October 29 and November 5 filings, ask counsel whether anything changes the assumptions behind your project. Before releasing a deposit that depends on rescheduling, name the regulatory change you actually need and confirm the supplier's cancellation terms. When the next order arrives, check for a stated timetable before moving your start date.
