DEA Judge Orders Corrections To Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Transcript

Judge Orders Transcript Corrections

DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius issued an order on Thursday directing corrections to the official transcript of the marijuana rescheduling hearing. The judge mandated that dozens of mostly small and technical changes be made to the record.

The corrected transcript covers all 11 days of the hearing and is at least 2,470 pages long. Julius stated that corrections will be noted in red text on the electronic version. Strikethroughs will indicate text that has been deleted from the final record.

While many fixes address spelling errors or misidentification of individuals, some changes are notably substantive. One correction changes a statement from “This is a medication” to the question “This is a medication?” Another instance corrects the phrase “there’s adulterants” to “there’s no adulterants.”

Notable Errors And Redactions

The detailed list of corrections includes errors that observers may find humorous. The word “pubic” is being corrected to “public” in several instances. Additionally, “anal” is being fixed to “analysis” where it was mistakenly used.

Two instances of the word “nubs” are being swapped out for “nuggs.” There is also a move to strike the word “squirrel” from the transcript. It remains unclear in what context a reference to the animal would have been mistakenly inserted.

Personally identifiable information will be redacted from the publicly available version. This includes email addresses, phone numbers, and residential or business addresses. The tribunal’s practice dictates that such data must remain private in public records.

Public Release And Final Briefs

The fully corrected transcript will be made available to the public in electronic format on the Agency’s website.

DEA and parties that participated in the marijuana rescheduling hearing filed their final briefs earlier this week. The federal agency is charged with defending the proposed move of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. This action marks a significant step in the regulatory process.

The DEA stated in its brief that “marijuana no longer fits the statutory requirements for Schedule I because it has a currently accepted medical use within the United States.” The agency noted it must give “significant deference” to the extensive ten-month study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. This study recommended rescheduling based on scientific and medical properties.

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