Trump’s Drug Czar Nominee Side-Steps Questions on Cannabis Rescheduling | Where to order Skittles Moonrock online

recommending that it be reclassified as a Schedule III substance. While Garland endorsed this recommendation, the DEA, under former Administrator Anne Milgram, never did.

The current rescheduling process has been stayed for the past nine months by an interlocutory appeal granted by a now-retired DEA administrative law judge, whom Milgram tasked with overseeing a fair and transparent hearing process for proponents and opponents to debate the merits of the proposed rule. A pair of cannabis rescheduling proponents requested the interlocutory appeal, in part, because of the DEA’s “hostility” toward the proposed rule.

Under Trump’s DEA administrator, Terry Cole, who was sworn in on July 23, the agency still hasn’t made progress to resume the hearing process: DEA attorneys submitted their third 90-day update on Oct. 6 to say that no briefing schedule has been set to address the interlocutory appeal. In other words, no progress has been made for nine months.

This lack of progress comes despite Cole testifying during his nomination hearing in April that reviewing where the DEA is in the administrative process to reschedule cannabis would be “one of my first priorities.”

As Cole has yet to make good on that promise, Booker pressed Carter further in his QFR.

“If you are confirmed, would you assign more weight to a scheduling recommendation from HHS based on its scientific and medical evaluation of a drug rather than DEA’s opinion?” Booker asked.

“As stated at the hearing, I support the process under the CSA, and if confirmed, I will work with all relevant interagency stakeholders to ensure an examination of all facts and evidence,” Carter wrote in response.

Carter’s vague responses were expected. While she has let her opinions on cannabis shine loudly in the past as a former Fox News contributor, federal restrictions prevent the ONDCP from supporting the legalization of Schedule I substances ahead of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. These restrictions also prevent the ONDCP from financing or sponsoring research related to medical or adult-use cannabis under its current control status.

While U.S. House Reps. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., introduced the Evidence-Based Drug Policy Act of 2025 in April to remove these restrictions, Carter, if confirmed, will be unable to speak freely on cannabis reform until this legislation or another legislative fix is implemented.

In addition, Carter, Cole and Attorney General Pam Bondi have yet to provide the American people with any clarity on which direction the cannabis rescheduling question will unfold in the absence of a decision from up top.

Trump told the nation in an Aug. 11 White House press briefing that his administration would determine whether to reschedule cannabis from a Schedule I to Schedule III substance “over the next few weeks.” Two months later, that timeline has come and gone.

Leading up to his election, Trump signaled in September 2024 that he would support cannabis rescheduling. However, during his August 2025 press briefing, the president offered mixed signals.

“Some people like it. Some people hate it,” Trump said. “Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because it does bad for the children; it does bad for people that are older than children. But we’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over the next, I would say, over the next few weeks, and that determination hopefully will be the right one.”