💸 The Tape

The legal challenge to cannabis rescheduling finally has a timetable. On October 9, the Justice Department and the opponents suing to undo the reform jointly proposed a briefing schedule to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court adopts it, the case will be fully briefed by February 19, 2027, with both sides asking for oral argument “as soon as reasonably practicable” afterward and before the court’s summer recess.

For an industry used to deadlines that slide, this is something rarer: dates both sides signed.

Who is suing, and over what

Three consolidated petitions are in play. One comes from Smart Approaches to Marijuana and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association, represented by Torridon Law, where former Attorney General William Barr is a partner. A second comes from a coalition of activists, physicians and MMJ International Holdings. The third comes from the attorneys general of Indiana and Nebraska; Louisiana has dropped out.

Their target is Attorney General Todd Blanche’s April order, which moved state-licensed medical cannabis and FDA-approved marijuana products to Schedule III immediately. The court declined to freeze that order in September, so it stays in force while the lawyers write.

The proposed calendar

• November 24: petitioners’ consolidated opening brief

• December 1: amicus briefs supporting petitioners

• January 13: the government’s response

• January 20: amicus briefs supporting the government

• February 5: petitioners’ reply

• February 12: joint appendix

• February 19: final briefs

The government gets the longer runway, partly because its window spans the holidays and partly because its counsel has international travel booked from November 27 to December 13. Even federal appellate litigation yields to a good itinerary.

Implication one: the status quo is locked in

A denied stay plus a February finish means the April order remains the law through at least the first quarter of 2027. Add a spring argument and the months a complex agency case usually takes to decide, and a ruling before mid-2027 looks unlikely. For medical operators, Schedule III treatment and the 280E relief that came with it will cover year-end 2026 books and probably much of 2027. The binary risk has not gone away. It has been rescheduled, which is fitting.

Implication two: standing comes first

The parties asked for expanded word limits, citing “multiple standing issues.” That tells you where the first fight is. At the stay stage, DOJ argued the challengers have “pocketbook interests” in keeping marijuana in Schedule I and are not the people the Controlled Substances Act was written to protect.

If the panel agrees, the case ends without touching the merits, and the same petitioners inherit the same problem when they challenge the final rule. If the panel finds standing, opponents get a blueprint for round two. Either way, the standing ruling travels.

Implication three: two tracks, one clock

The lawsuit rides side saddle to the administrative process, which is where broad rescheduling still lives. DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius took testimony in June and July and received final briefs in August. The only step left was his recommendation to DEA Administrator Terrance Cole, who makes the final call.

Then, on September 29, Julius stayed the record to consider an opponents’ motion to add a Government Accountability Office report, which found DEA has no written policies for how staff evaluate and schedule substances. DEA’s response is due October 13. That is the first date on the calendar that matters, and it arrives six weeks before any appellate brief.

From there, sequencing drives everything:

• If Julius reopens the record, supplemental briefing pushes his recommendation later, and the court case sets the pace.

• If he declines, a recommendation could land while opening briefs are still being drafted, and a final rule could follow during or shortly after briefing.

• A final rule before the court rules would change the case. A rule built on a full hearing record is a sturdier vehicle than an order, and it would let the government argue that parts of the challenge have been overtaken. Opponents would file a fresh petition and try to fold it into the existing one.

• A court ruling first cuts the other way. Whatever the panel says about the attorney general’s authority, or the test for “currently accepted medical use,” becomes the frame DEA has to write within.

Expect the GAO report to work both rooms. It is already before the judge, and it will almost certainly appear in the November 24 brief as evidence that the process was improvised.

Implication four: the industry is watching from the gallery

Two medical marijuana companies tried to intervene on the government’s side. The court said no, but will let them file amicus briefs, due January 20. That leaves the defense of the order entirely with DOJ.

The encouraging part is how DOJ has behaved: it opposed the stay, and it agreed to a schedule the parties call “materially shorter” than many complex agency cases. The less comfortable part is that the government’s litigation choices are not the industry’s to make.

The wildcard

The House Appropriations Committee has voted to block further steps toward rescheduling. Bipartisan lawmakers have said they do not expect that to survive, but it is a third venue to monitor while the other two grind forward.

What to watch

1. October 13: DEA’s filing on whether to reopen the record.

2. The court’s scheduling order: whether it adopts the proposal and the longer word limits.

3. November 24: how much of the opening brief is standing, how much is merits, and how the GAO report is used.

4. January 13: the government’s full defense, on paper for the first time.

5. The argument date: a spring slot keeps a 2027 decision in view.

February is when the paper stops. The part that moves markets comes after.

Source: MM

📈 Dog Walkers

$GTBIF ( ▲ 0.92% ) Expands In Florida

Green Thumb Industries opened RISE Cape Coral on October 10, bringing its Florida footprint to 25 dispensaries. The store sits at 928 NE Pine Island Road in Lee County, with a grand opening set for October 31. Green Thumb entered Florida in 2018, runs production facilities in Ocala and Homestead, and now operates more than 120 stores across 14 markets nationally.

The ribbon-cutting is the smaller story. The state’s weekly dispensing data shows a company punching well above its real estate.

For the week of October 2–8, Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use reported that GTI dispensed 22.3 million mg of THC and 4,996 ounces of smokable flower. THC volume rose 1.8% week over week and is up roughly 14% since late August. The statewide total grew about 1.7% over the same six weeks, which puts GTI’s pace at roughly eight times the market’s.

That lifted GTI’s share of statewide THC volume from 4.6% to 5.2%. It now ranks fifth in Florida by THC dispensed, having passed Green Dragon (41 stores) and FLUENT (33), while holding only the twelfth-largest store count.

The per-store math is where it gets interesting. Across the 25 locations the state lists, GTI averaged about 894,000 mg of THC per store, roughly 61% above the statewide average and the highest of any operator in the report. Trulieve, the volume leader, averaged about 693,000 across 170 stores.

The soft spot is flower. GTI’s share of smokable ounces is 3.2%, well short of its THC share, which points to a mix that leans toward non-flower products.

Cape Coral’s sales have not hit the data yet; the store opened two days after the latest reporting window closed. With 942,370 active patients statewide and enrollment barely moving, share is the only growth lever on offer. So far, GTI is pulling it.

📺 Trade To Black

Curaleaf Raises Aurora Bid to $5 a Share | TTB Weekly Recap

• Curaleaf raised its hostile bid for Aurora Cannabis from $4 to $5 per share. Friday’s rumors of Organigram interest deserve caution until something concrete emerges.

• California’s legal market drew criticism from State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Republican gubernatorial nominee Steve Hilton, as licensed sales fell from about $5.2 billion in 2021 to $3.9 billion in 2025 and outdoor wholesale flower dropped to roughly $334 per pound.

• Tilray posted record fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $257.1 million, up 23%, with beverage revenue up 82% to $101.5 million while cannabis revenue fell 13%.

• Decibel is taking General Admission and Standard Issue to the UK through Hilltop Leaf, Safe Harbor Financial deposits reached $119.3 million, and Ascend Wellness opened its seventh Ohio dispensary in Lewis Center.