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President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) side-stepped questions from a pair of U.S. senators related to his position on how cannabis should be scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
Terry Cole, whom Trump nominated in February to replace Anne Milgram as the DEA administrator, responded to written questions for the record (QFR) from Senate Judiciary Committee members this week in a follow-up to his nomination hearing on April 30.
After Cole told committee members in that hearing that he needed “to understand more where they are” in the cannabis rescheduling process, Sen. Corry Bookey, D-N.J., provided Cole with a brief timeline of the Biden-initiated reform, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation in August 2023 that cannabis be reclassified as a Schedule III substance.
Booker also explained in the QFR that the HHS conducted a medical and scientific analysis before coming to that conclusion, and that the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed a rule in May 2024 to follow that recommendation, before asking Cole if he would also follow the recommendation.
“If confirmed, I will give the matter careful consideration after consulting with appropriate personnel within the Drug Enforcement Administration, familiarizing myself with the current status of the regulatory process, and reviewing all relevant information,” Cole said, adding that he will follow the law and any policies within the DOJ.
The current rescheduling process is currently delayed from an interlocutory appeal granted by DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney and now awaits the next DEA administrator to set a briefing schedule related to allegations of ex parte communications between the DEA and anti-rescheduling participants in the hearing process.
Booked pressed Cole on his commitment to the scheduling process and whether substances should be scheduled according to their potential for abuse and currently accepted medical use. Cole referred back to his original response, reaffirming that he still needs to “familiarize” himself with the process.
A 22-year DEA veteran, Cole indicated in 2024 that his position on cannabis was aligned with the late former first lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign that took off during the 1980s as part of the country’s drug war.
Meanwhile, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who asked Cole during the April 30 hearing if he was committed to seeing the Schedule III proposed rule through to “fruition,” followed up on the nominee’s position on rescheduling in the QFR.
Padilla explained in the QFR that Cole, if confirmed, would play a “critical” role in his position as administrator in aligning the DEA enforcement posture with potentially a new legal framework for cannabis.
“Do you believe marijuana has currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States?” Padilla asked. “Please explain your reasoning, including what factors the DEA should consider when evaluating scientific and medical evidence.”
That question is pivotal to cannabis rescheduling because any substance determined to have “currently accepted medical use” in the U.S. cannot be listed as a Schedule I drug under the CSA.
In other words, should the DEA align its viewpoint with the HHS findings, then the question shifts from not if cannabis should be rescheduled but what schedule it belongs to. Currently, cannabis sits next to heroin, LSD and ecstasy in the most controlled of the five schedules.
Cole provided Padilla with the same answer that he gave Booker, that he would give the matter careful consideration, consult with experts, familiarize himself with the issue and review relevant information.
