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The executive order (EO) of December 18 to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III is a monumental decision that will fundamentally reshape the market.
The official recognition of its medical utility is a designation that cannot be removed from the administrative record.
The industry is evolving from a lifestyle-driven, speculative sector into a professionalized asset class centered on medical and pharmaceutical applications. This shift moves the sector from a speculative, wait-and-see environment to a high-stakes period requiring fundamental restructuring.
Shane Pennington, a partner at Blank Rome, and Dan Ahrens, a managing director and fund manager at AdvisorShare, spoke with the Investing News Network (INN) on the issue. According to them, the immediate horizon is defined by three distinct legal, financial and clinical caveats that will determine the next stage of the industry.
Clearing the judicial runway
The path to federal rescheduling is currently obstructed by a stalled administrative hearing process that has reached a procedural standstill.
While the EO mandates an expeditious timeline, the actual movement is frozen because the DEA has yet to enter a briefing schedule following a request for an interlocutory appeal.
Legal expert Shane Pennington suggests that the most efficient path forward is for the administration to simply cancel or withdraw the pending ALJ hearing altogether by citing the lack of constitutional Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and documented ex parte communications, and move directly toward a final rule based on the HHS’s already established medical record.
By withdrawing the hearing, the Department of Justice effectively moots the current interlocutory appeal, allowing the DOJ to issue a Final Rule relatively quickly.
However, Pennington, who represented the sole pro-rescheduling industry party and filed the interlocutory appeal that stalled the DEA’s hearing, acknowledges inevitable post-rule litigation. “Something this big was going to get challenged, and will get challenged regardless, in federal court,” he explained to INN during a one-on-one interview, adding that proper APA procedure carries no risk to timeline speed since the comment and hearing opportunities are already complete.
Once the final rule is published, the industry and movement will likely shift to the DOJ side against prohibitionist stays in federal appellate courts. This is a stark contrast to previous years, where advocates were on the offensive.
“The tables have turned for us. We are going to be defending the hill… as a lawyer, I can tell you that feels amazing,” said Pennington during a January 6 ATACH webinar attended by INN.
The capital markets thaw
The true catalyst for investors in 2026 is not the headline of rescheduling but the fundamental transformation of balance sheets. For decades, the cannabis industry operated under so-called “cannabis exceptionalism”, a state where standard business rules, tax laws and banking protections were suspended, blocking deductions and choking liquidity.
Rescheduling will remove these barriers to unleash normalized cash flows and institutional capital into a sector long treated as radioactive, though Ahrens notes major wirehouses will block stocks until the ink dries
“I think when Schedule III happens, I think the SAFER Banking Act can happen pretty soon afterwards, because it’ll be a much, much less controversial issue than it's ever been in the past. It’ll be more of an administrative thing that needs to get done,” Ahrens told INN.
Additionally, moving to Schedule III eliminates the Section 280E penalty, which currently prevents businesses from deducting standard operating expenses like rent and payroll, and unlocks bankruptcy protections. Ahrens pointed out that US cannabis firms have been forced to operate leanly on a shoestring compared to Canadian counterparts; normalized taxation will finally allow these firms to operate as legitimate consumer or healthcare categories.
Current effective tax rates can soar to 70 percent or more; post-rescheduling, these rates are expected to align closer to the standard 21 percent corporate rate.
The removal of Section 280E is expected to trigger a cash flow expansion. Perceived risk reduction could cause valuation multiples to improve after-tax earnings. Higher valuations and greater cash flow will increase debt capacity and make acquisitions easier to finance and more accretive.
“The first thing US cannabis companies are going to do is pay down their debt,” said Ahrens. “I'd (also) expect to see more M&A once everything is complete.”
Up-listing from OTC to a major exchange could accelerate those deals. Ahrens told INN that exchanges have already begun reaching out to cannabis companies to discuss transition plans. Firms like Verano have already re-domiciled from Canada to the US to prepare for a listing on the NYSE Composite (INDEXNYSEGIS:NYA) or Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC).
Clinical legitimacy and the CBD bridge
Schedule III, while not legalizing cannabis, reduces the federal hurdle for clinical trials. This eases security and compliance requirements for researchers, paving the way for FDA-approved cannabinoid treatments and creating a formal pipeline for medical legitimacy.
Dr. Priyanka Sharma of Casmira Therapeutics noted the EO’s call for HHS, FDA, CMMS and NIH to collaborate on research methods using real-world evidence, including randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies and patient interviews to inform clinical standards.
She emphasized a CMMI pilot arming healthcare professionals with tools to manage complex Medicare patients on hemp-derived CBD, including duration, dosing and drug interactions.
With federal research barriers lowered, MSOs become realistic acquisition targets for Big Pharma giants looking for validated medical compounds.
A critical wildcard for the 2026 market is the impending federal crackdown on intoxicating hemp products under Farm Bill revisions, set to take effect in November 2026.
Ahrens expects the new definition to remove unfair competition by pulling intoxicating gray market products from shelves, pushing consumers toward the regulated MSO market.
Sharma noted the EO explicitly acknowledges this hemp-derived legal instability, positioning CBD as a federal priority for research coordination and clinical frameworks.
The bottom line
While market volatility remains high, this remains a market for long-term fundamental thinkers, not short-term speculators, as the industry moves toward concrete regulatory execution.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Lifescience for real-time news updates!
