Cannabis stocks have once again been sent flying in the wake of the latest hint of progress on cannabis rescheduling from Trump’s White House.
Yesterday (Wednesday, April 22), two separate reports from Axios and The Washington Post suggested that federal agencies had been instructed to prepare for an imminent announcement on rescheduling, now over four months since the president signed an executive order to ‘expedite’ the process.
The Washington Post, citing four sources, suggested that two distinct pathways are now under discussion. Either the DEA will announce a new administrative hearing, or acting attorney general Todd Blanche could move more directly, announcing reclassification and deferring licensing to individual states.
Separately, Axios cited a single administration official who said that action could come as soon as this week. Both outlets cautioned that plans remain fluid, and neither the DOJ nor the DEA have yet confirmed anything publicly.
With seemingly more substantial information than a simple public mention by Trump, public markets reacted as they have before, sharply and immediately.
According to the Business of Cannabis stocks tracker, the sector closed the day broadly higher:
Speculation has once again peaked in the cannabis industry, driven in part by Trump’s signature ambiguity. On Saturday, during a signing ceremony for a separate executive order on psychedelic medicine research, the president addressed an official directly, stating: “You’re going to get the rescheduling done, right, please? Will you get the rescheduling done, please? You know, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling. You’re going to get it done, right?”
While it’s unclear which rescheduling process he was referring to (more likely psychedelics, given the setting), industry hawks were soon drawing parallels with this statement and one made earlier this month by longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone, who separately questioned who within the administration has been ‘holding up’ cannabis rescheduling.
The political backdrop has also shifted since the last bout of rescheduling fever. The departure of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had opposed cannabis reform during her time as Florida’s state attorney general and notably did not attend Trump’s cannabis rescheduling signing ceremony in December, removes a substantial barrier.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, has taken over as acting AG. During his Senate confirmation process, he said he would ‘give the matter careful consideration after conferring with all relevant stakeholders, including DEA personnel, ‘ a statement that offered little clarity on his intentions.
The procedural obstacles that we reported on last month remain. The DEA has had no administrative law judge on staff since August 2025, leaving the agency without anyone to oversee the rescheduling hearing process, a vacancy that Administrator Terry Cole has yet to fill.
A joint status report filed earlier this month confirmed the interlocutory appeal arising from allegations of agency bias ‘remains pending with the Administrator’, with ‘no briefing schedule set.’ The administration could bypass the hearing process entirely, but would first need to cancel or withdraw the existing hearing.
Legal challenges, if and when an announcement comes, are virtually guaranteed from both directions. Anti-cannabis groups have prepared challenges to the rescheduling science, while pro-reform advocates may argue that rescheduling does not go far enough and that cannabis should be removed from the Controlled Substances Act entirely.
And even a completed rescheduling process would leave much unresolved. In March, a Congressional Research Service assessment updated on March 10, downgraded its language on whether rescheduling would actually happen, replacing a previous assessment that it was ‘likely’ with the more cautious observation that it ‘may’ occur.
A separate CRS document flagged that a bill in the current 119th Congress would maintain the 280E tax prohibition on cannabis business deductions even after rescheduling, meaning the tax relief the industry has been anticipating is not legislatively guaranteed. Banking access would still require separate congressional action. State-legal markets would remain technically non-compliant with federal law.
The post Federal Agencies Reportedly Told to Prep for Imminent Cannabis Rescheduling Announcement appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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Yesterday (Wednesday, April 22), two separate reports from Axios and The Washington Post suggested that federal agencies had been instructed to prepare for an imminent announcement on rescheduling, now over four months since the president signed an executive order to ‘expedite’ the process.
The Washington Post, citing four sources, suggested that two distinct pathways are now under discussion. Either the DEA will announce a new administrative hearing, or acting attorney general Todd Blanche could move more directly, announcing reclassification and deferring licensing to individual states.
Separately, Axios cited a single administration official who said that action could come as soon as this week. Both outlets cautioned that plans remain fluid, and neither the DOJ nor the DEA have yet confirmed anything publicly.
With seemingly more substantial information than a simple public mention by Trump, public markets reacted as they have before, sharply and immediately.
According to the Business of Cannabis stocks tracker, the sector closed the day broadly higher:
- The BoC Cannabis Index rose 10.10%, with 34 of 42 tracked securities closing in positive territory
- ETFs led the way, up 14.57% as a category, suggesting broad market confidence rather than selective stock-picking
- MSOs gained 13.05% on average, in recognition of the operators with the most direct exposure to 280E
- Top individual gainers included Jushi Holdings (+26.53%), Curaleaf (+26.30%) and Cresco Labs (+24.21%), two of the latter being among the operators carrying the largest disputed 280E tax positions.
- Canadian licensed producers were more muted, gaining 6.85% on average, while adjacent companies barely moved at +0.10%
- The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS) closed up 19.39%, notable given the same ETF surged 24% on Trump’s December executive order before surrendering those gains entirely in the months of administrative silence that followed
Speculation has once again peaked in the cannabis industry, driven in part by Trump’s signature ambiguity. On Saturday, during a signing ceremony for a separate executive order on psychedelic medicine research, the president addressed an official directly, stating: “You’re going to get the rescheduling done, right, please? Will you get the rescheduling done, please? You know, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling. You’re going to get it done, right?”
While it’s unclear which rescheduling process he was referring to (more likely psychedelics, given the setting), industry hawks were soon drawing parallels with this statement and one made earlier this month by longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone, who separately questioned who within the administration has been ‘holding up’ cannabis rescheduling.
The political backdrop has also shifted since the last bout of rescheduling fever. The departure of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had opposed cannabis reform during her time as Florida’s state attorney general and notably did not attend Trump’s cannabis rescheduling signing ceremony in December, removes a substantial barrier.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, has taken over as acting AG. During his Senate confirmation process, he said he would ‘give the matter careful consideration after conferring with all relevant stakeholders, including DEA personnel, ‘ a statement that offered little clarity on his intentions.
The procedural obstacles that we reported on last month remain. The DEA has had no administrative law judge on staff since August 2025, leaving the agency without anyone to oversee the rescheduling hearing process, a vacancy that Administrator Terry Cole has yet to fill.
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A joint status report filed earlier this month confirmed the interlocutory appeal arising from allegations of agency bias ‘remains pending with the Administrator’, with ‘no briefing schedule set.’ The administration could bypass the hearing process entirely, but would first need to cancel or withdraw the existing hearing.
Legal challenges, if and when an announcement comes, are virtually guaranteed from both directions. Anti-cannabis groups have prepared challenges to the rescheduling science, while pro-reform advocates may argue that rescheduling does not go far enough and that cannabis should be removed from the Controlled Substances Act entirely.
And even a completed rescheduling process would leave much unresolved. In March, a Congressional Research Service assessment updated on March 10, downgraded its language on whether rescheduling would actually happen, replacing a previous assessment that it was ‘likely’ with the more cautious observation that it ‘may’ occur.
A separate CRS document flagged that a bill in the current 119th Congress would maintain the 280E tax prohibition on cannabis business deductions even after rescheduling, meaning the tax relief the industry has been anticipating is not legislatively guaranteed. Banking access would still require separate congressional action. State-legal markets would remain technically non-compliant with federal law.
The post Federal Agencies Reportedly Told to Prep for Imminent Cannabis Rescheduling Announcement appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
