Court Keeps Medical Cannabis in Schedule III as Congress Wrestles With the Hemp Crackdown
A lot has happened in the last few weeks. A federal appeals court just handed medical cannabis patients a meaningful win, the fight over the federal hemp crackdown is heating up in Congress and 55% of Americans agree cannabis is not dangerous. Here's what mattered most for Utah's medical cannabis community.
The Courts Say Schedule III Stands — For Now
The biggest news came out of Washington on September 9, when a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a bid by anti-cannabis groups to block the April rescheduling order. The challengers had asked the court to freeze Attorney General Todd Blanche's April order — the one that moved state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III — while their lawsuit to vacate it plays out. The court said no, finding they hadn't come close to justifying a halt.
What this means for Utah patients: the federal recognition of state medical programs like ours remains fully in effect while the litigation continues. The broader rescheduling question is still with the DEA's administrative law judge, but the medical foundation held up to its first real court test. This results means we are moving forward toward better research on cannabis products and easing of financial regulations, but also greater federal oversight. There is still much to do, but this seems to be the only way forward if the US federal government is ever going to be on board with treating cannabis like medicine.
The Hemp Crackdown Fight Moves to Congress
The federal ban on most intoxicating hemp-derived products — Delta-8, Delta-10, and similar items sold at gas stations and smoke shops — is now set to take effect December 11, after President Trump signed the spending bill delaying it on September 2. The real story is what happens with the borrowed time. A push to regulate rather than ban is gathering steam: the National Association of Convenience Stores is urging Congress to allow regulated hemp THC sales with age verification and safety standards, and a bipartisan House bill — the Lawful Hemp Protection Act — would hand regulation to the FDA, ban marketing to children, and restrict sales to adults 21 and up. Competing bills to delay the ban to 2028, repeal it outright, or carve out hemp beverages all remain in committee, and time is short.
Our take hasn't changed: none of this affects Utah's state-regulated medical program. But if you're relying on unregulated hemp-derived THC for a medical reason, the ground is shifting fast — a medical card gets you tested, labeled, regulated medicine that isn't going anywhere.
A Wrinkle in Federal Registration
Not every rescheduling story is smooth. Marijuana Moment reports that a medical cannabis business owner is fighting a DEA decision that could force her to fire two employees with old cannabis convictions in order to complete her federal Schedule III registration. Longstanding DEA rules bar registrants from employing anyone with a felony drug conviction — a rule written for pharmacies, now colliding with an industry built partly by people the drug war touched first.
Public Opinion Keeps Shifting
A new Rasmussen poll conducted September 8-10 found that 55% of Americans say cannabis is not very dangerous or not dangerous at all, versus just 37% who consider it dangerous — a five-point drop in perceived danger in a single year. Fewer than half still believe the old "gateway drug" theory.
Quick Hits
Georgia held its public hearing September 16 on mail delivery of medical cannabis, with a final vote set for September 30 — an access model worth watching for in Utah, and for the nation.
The Bottom Line for Utah Patients
The courts upheld medical cannabis's federal footing, Congress has one more chance to get hemp policy right, and public opinion keeps moving toward common sense. With the DEA judge's rescheduling recommendation still ahead, we'll keep watching so you don't have to.
Sources: Marijuana Moment, Ganjapreneur, The Marijuana Herald
