Puerto Rico: 150+ Dispensaries Face New Reality as DEA Registration Portal Opens

As of 29 April 2026, the DEA’s registration portal for Schedule III cannabis opened at 9:00 AM EST, one day after the Federal Register formally published the Department of Justice’s rescheduling order. For Puerto Rico and its 150-plus licensed medical dispensaries, the change lands harder than in most US states.

Puerto Rico operates under Act 42-2017, which built one of the Caribbean’s largest regulated cannabis markets. But as a US territory, its operators have always lived under direct federal jurisdiction with less of the autonomy mainland states can claim. The DOJ’s April 22 order placing state-licensed medical marijuana into Schedule III now applies to the island’s entire supply chain, from cultivators and manufacturers to the dispensaries clustered across San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez.

What Changed This Week

The Federal Register publication on 28 April made the rescheduling legally effective. Three things matter for Puerto Rico operators right now:

Tax relief. Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, which blocked cannabis businesses from deducting ordinary business expenses, no longer applies to Schedule III products. The Treasury Department and IRS have announced forthcoming guidance, confirming that the change applies to a business’s full taxable year that includes the effective date. For dispensaries operating on thin margins, the difference could cut effective tax rates from roughly 70% to 20-30%.

DEA registration. The portal that opened today requires a non-refundable $794 application fee. Licensed operators who want to handle Schedule III cannabis must register. The expedited application window closes around 26 June 2026.

Banking. Schedule III status does not automatically open bank vaults, but it removes the core legal barrier that made financial institutions treat cannabis businesses as high-risk. Barbados has already seen its regulator, the BMCLA, press local banks to reconsider their refusal to serve the industry on the same basis.

What This Means

If you are visiting Puerto Rico with a valid medical card, nothing changes at the dispensary counter today. The 30-day temporary tourist card process under Regulation 9038 remains the same, and products stay available as before.

Behind the scenes, though, operators are watching a broader hearing scheduled for 29 June through 15 July 2026, where the DEA will consider rescheduling all cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, not just state-licensed medical products. If that proceeds, the implications for Puerto Rico’s long-stalled recreational legalization debate could sharpen considerably. Operators and advocates have pushed for adult-use legislation for years. A federal downshift to Schedule III for all cannabis would remove the single biggest argument against it.