Darren Grady

On November 12, 2025, legislation was enacted to end the longest government shutdown in the history of the U.S. While the government is open and operational, the passage of the reopening bill has sent shockwaves through the hemp industry, and for good reason. The bill provides funding for the government for the next 10 weeks and also contains three fiscal year appropriations packages. One of those packages is an extensive spending bill for the agriculture industry.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) recent recommendation to reschedule marijuana (cannabis) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III of the CSA has received praise and criticism on both sides of the aisle and among those in between. The strong likelihood that the DEA’s recommendation will become reality prompts us to consider what is down the pike as a result of this rescheduling, especially for state-legal cannabis businesses.