Meanwhile, a new op-ed raises questions about who will shape the future of cannabinoid medicine. Here’s what you need to know.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is reiterating that it doesn’t believe a recently published federal watchdog agency report that found “gaps” in the government’s process for evaluating controlled substances undermines the Trump administration’s proposal to reschedule marijuana. Anti-rescheduling parties participating in the hearing say procedural shortcomings have irreparably tainted the scientific review the proposed reclassification is based on. Both sides on Thursday filed what are expected to be the final briefs before the agency judge overseeing the hearing issues his recommendation to the agency’s administrator.
Last month, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius rejected cannabis rescheduling opponents’ request to reopen the proceedings for additional testimony and document discovery concerning the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, though he allowed the report into the record and invited “narrowly tailored” briefs on how much “weight” it should have. DEA’s latest filing says the judge should give “no weight” to the GAO report, arguing opponents’ filings largely repeated claims already debated at the hearing. The agency added that if the report’s findings undermine moving marijuana to Schedule III, they should also raise questions about whether a prior 2016 review that left marijuana in Schedule I was “appropriately performed.”
Vermont Superior Court Judge Thomas Walsh ruled late last month that Jason Struthers, who has farmed cannabis on his half-acre backyard in Essex Junction since 2022, did not violate local zoning laws by cultivating cannabis. The Cannabis Control Board subsequently renewed his license to grow, and he is now waiting on approval from the city. Struthers said he had mixed emotions because he thinks it’s “highly likely (the town) will appeal to the Supreme Court again.” City Manager Regina Mahony said city councilors plan to review his application at a Nov.
12 meeting, and Community Development Director Christopher Yuen recommends renewal, according to a memo attached to the agenda.
The controversy over Struthers’s growing operation and his earlier duck farming has played out across three years, sparking shouting matches between neighbors, letters to legislators, new state laws and multiple lawsuits. After neighbors complained about the smell of his crop and noise from the ducks, the dispute went through appeals until it reached the state Supreme Court, which ruled against Struthers in June 2025, saying municipalities can enforce local zoning laws regarding both farming and cannabis cultivation. Struthers gave up his ducks, and in July 2025 the city issued him a new zoning violation under rules requiring plants be at least 50 feet from adjacent properties.
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