With Marijuana Rescheduling Still Pending, Federal Workplace Drug Testing Rules Aren’t Changing, Health Agency Says

With marijuana rescheduling still left unfulfilled months after President Donald Trump ordered the process to be completed, there are no plans to update federal workplace drug policy around cannabis, according to a new filing from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In a noticed published in the Federal Register on Friday, HHS and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) advised that they’ve “made no revisions to the current drug testing panels for both urine and oral fluid and current required nomenclature” for labs and medical review officer reports.

Because marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), drug testing standards for the substance are not changing for federal workers, at least for now. “The current authorized drug testing panels and required report nomenclature remain in effect,” the notice says.

The relevant rule is meant to identify the “analytes and cutoffs for federal agency workplace drug testing specimens” and lay out “the nomenclature (i.e., analyte names and abbreviations) that must be used to report federal workplace drug test results.” Statute dictates that HHS must periodically provide updates on the rule, even if it’s not being revised as in this case.

Because the list of drugs that the rules apply to are listed in either Schedule I or Schedule II, the policy for marijuana testing could theoretically change if its moved to Schedule III, as proposed by HHS under the Biden administration following a scientific review. Trump in December directed Attorney General Pam Bondi do expeditiously finalize the rescheduling rule, but there haven’t been any updates in the weeks since the executive order was signed.

Last year, HHS did announce that it was updating its terminology in the federal worker drug testing policy to reflect a more nuanced understanding of cannabis.

Previously, HHS referred to delta-9 THC merely as “THC,” with no further specification. That failed to distinguish between delta-9 THC—which is found in marijuana—and delta-8 THC, an increasingly prominent psychoactive cannabinoid that can be produced from federally legal hemp.

The agency also previously used “THCA” to refer to a marijuana metabolite, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid. That conflicts with the more common meaning of “THCA” within the cannabis space, where it typically refers to delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid—a non-psychoactive that can be converted to delta-9 THC through heating.

Now delta-9 THC is referred to as such. And HHS now refers to the THC metabolite as delta-9 THCC rather than THCA.

To align with the HHS update, the Department of Transportation (DOT) last year proposed a rule to update its own drug testing guidelines, revising terminology around cannabis in a way that provides more specificity related to THC.

DOT subsequently advised in December that all safety-sensitive workers must still comply with federal drug testing requirements, even after the president directed the attorney general to complete the cannabis rescheduling process.

For what it’s worth, former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in 2014 that moving cannabis to Schedule III wouldn’t affect drug testing policies for commercial truckers, noting that the department specifically lists marijuana as substance to screen for, separate from the HHS and SAMHSA rule.

Drug testing policy is just one issue that rescheduling could impact. Stakeholders and advocates are eagerly awaiting final action for other reasons, as the reform is also expected to help expand research opportunities and allow marijuana businesses to take federal tax deductions they’re barred from under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E, for example.

To that end, IRS recently weighed in on a relevant U.S. Tax Court case involving state-licensed cannabis businesses, reiterating its position that the industry must still comply with 280E as rescheduling sits pending—and it does not intend to retroactively extend relief to the sector even if marijuana is ultimately moved to Schedule III.

Meanwhile, a new academic paper says that while marijuana rescheduling would represent a historic policy change with major implications for cannabis research and industry, it should be viewed as a “transitional” step that must be followed up with comprehensive reform to better align state and federal law while promoting equity.

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Meanwhile, the first-ever White House drug czar recently said that while he loves Trump and “almost everything he does,” that affection doesn’t extend to the pending proposal to federally reschedule marijuana, which he described as a “gateway drug” that’s harming youth.

A White House spokesperson defended the administration’s rescheduling push in an earlier interview with Fox News Digital, stating that it’s part of his “pledge to expand medical research into applications of marijuana and cannabidiols.”

“The president’s historic action paved the way for the development of promising new treatments for American patients, especially veterans—and the presence of several leaders from law enforcement and veterans groups at the Oval Office signing is indicative of how President Trump continues to push the envelope to support our nation’s heroes,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said.

The rescheduling plan has been met with mixed reactions on Capitol Hill. For example, prohibitionist Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) half-jokingly told Marijuana Moment last month that he felt the Justice Department should “take about 20 years” to finish the rescheduling process.

In December, Harris separately said Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally reschedule marijuana via executive order. But while lawmakers could overrule any administrative move to enact the reform, it would be a “heavy lift” in the Republican-controlled Congress, he acknowledged.

Another GOP lawmaker on the other side of the debate, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), recently told Marijuana Moment that while marijuana rescheduling might not be at the top of the agenda for the Justice Department or White House amid competing interests, he and bipartisan colleagues will be ready when “opportunity does present itself.”

Joyce separately said in January that he doesn’t think the attorney general would seek to undermine the president’s executive order to move marijuana to Schedule III despite any personal reservations she may have about the policy change.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Trump’s first pick for attorney general this term who ultimately withdrew his nomination, raised eyebrows after posting on X that he’s been told the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is actively drafting a rescheduling rule and intended to issue it “ASAP.”

There’s some confusion around that point, however, as a rule is already pending before the Justice Department—and a new rule would presumably be subject to additional administrative review and public comment.

A Democratic senator told Marijuana Moment in January that it’s “too early to tell” what the implications of Trump’s cannabis order would be—saying that while there are “things that look promising” about it, he is “very concerned about where the DOJ will land.”

“The ability of the Trump administration to speak out of both sides of their mouth is staggering,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said. “So I’m just going to wait and see right now. Obviously, there’s things that look promising—to end generations of injustice. I really want to wait and see.”

In January, two GOP senators filed an amendment to block the Trump administration from rescheduling cannabis, but it was not considered on the floor.

Meanwhile, DEA recently said the cannabis rescheduling appeal process “remains pending” despite Trump’s executive order.

Bondi, the attorney general, separately missed a congressionally mandated deadline in January to issue guidelines for easing barriers to research on Schedule I substances such as marijuana and psychedelics.