In a development that has been a long time in coming, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) wants to accept the recommendation of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services and reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.

However, there is still work that needs to be done.

This now heads to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which will hopefully conduct an expedited review. From there, the DEA would put out the change for a formal comment period. Once the public comment period is completed and there is a review by an administrative law judge, the DEA would ultimately publish its final rule.

If the DEA follows through on rescheduling marijuana, it will represent a sea change for the legal cannabis industry in the United States and possibly open the door for more banks, financial institutions and credit/debit card processing companies to enter the space. It also would hopefully end the burdens of IRC 280E, which has been a drag on the industry.

Time will tell how this shakes out, but the cannabis industry appears to be facing a new reality.

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