During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 30, DEA administrator nominee Terrance Cole declined to commit to the proposed federal rescheduling of cannabis, leaving a critical policy question unresolved as the process transitions to new leadership under the Trump administration.

As California’s legal cannabis industry heads into the second half of 2025, store owners are facing a combination of rising costs that could further disadvantage them against the state’s still-thriving illicit market.

California’s legal cannabis industry, long weighed down by high taxes and regulation, is facing new threats: steep federal tariffs on key imports and a proposed statewide ban on disposable vapes.

A popular and game-changing rescheduling proposal backed by Donald J. Trump to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) remains formally active but administratively paused by a DEA judge.