Puerto Rico: DEA Hearing Day 2 Puts FDA Marijuana Analysis Under Fire

As of 30 June 2026, the DEA rescheduling hearing has entered its second day. Reform opponents used the government’s own witnesses to attack a 2023 methodology change the FDA relied on when it recommended moving all cannabis to Schedule III. For Puerto Rico dispensaries, which run the Caribbean’s largest medical cannabis market, the argument aims at the same reasoning behind the partial rule they already operate under.

The 2023 Analysis Change

The Food and Drug Administration switched from a five-part test to a two-part test in 2023 when it evaluated whether cannabis has a “currently accepted medical use.” Under the older method, marijuana had failed that review for decades. Under the new one, the agency recommended a move to Schedule III.

Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana pressed the point during cross-examination. “The government is asking to move marijuana out of Schedule I, but it did so using a brand new standard instead of a standard that it had applied for years,” he said, per Marijuana Moment’s coverage. FDA controlled-substance staff director Dominic Chiapperino, testifying for the government, acknowledged that cannabis would not have passed the earlier five-part test.

Dr. Corey Burchman, a New Hampshire pain-management physician called by the government, offered the day’s other headline testimony. He compared marijuana withdrawal to “a dying glowing ember of a campfire” against opioid withdrawal.

What This Means for Puerto Rico

The partial Schedule III order that took effect 28 April already covers Puerto Rico’s licensees under Act 42-2017. That change was covered in the DEA registration portal update and removed federal Section 280E tax exposure for the island’s operators.

A successful attack on the FDA analysis narrows the odds of the broader move that would cover all cannabis. Adult-use debate in San Juan has repeatedly stalled on federal-law friction. Banking access, still tight for medical operators across the Caribbean, would stay tight. For patients on the 30-day tourist card, nothing shifts at the counter this summer.

What to Watch

The hearing runs through 15 July, with a recess on 3 July for the US holiday and a resumption on 6 July. The next opposition group, the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, testifies on 2 July. A DEA administrative law judge will draft a recommendation, and the agency issues the final scheduling decision. The participant list, previewed earlier this month, remains all-opposition, which is why the analysis fight matters this much.