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Opponents of marijuana reform have filed a lawsuit challenging the federal cannabis rescheduling action announced by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice last month—using a law firm at which a former Trump administration attorney general is a partner.
Prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) on Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review and set aside the cannabis rescheduling action, alleging that they have been “aggrieved” by the reform.
Under an action announced by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche last month, marijuana products regulated by a state medical cannabis license immediately moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III, as did any marijuana products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An administrative hearing scheduled for this summer will consider broader cannabis rescheduling, including for recreational products.
“The AG Rescheduling Order violates the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 to 559, and section 201 of the CSA, 21 U.S.C. § 811, exceeds the statutory authority of the Attorney General under the CSA, and is otherwise arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law,” the brief two-page petition challenging the rescheduling action claims.
It is signed by attorneys at Torridon Law PLCC, where former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, led DOJ during Trump’s first term in office, is a partner.
SAM had announced in January that it was hiring Barr’s firm to legally combat cannabis rescheduling after Tump signed an executive order directing officials to complete the process expeditiously.
“SAM and NDASA respectfully request that the Court review and set aside the Order in whole, and that SAM and NDASA receive any further relief to which they may be entitled,” the new petition says.
Named defendants in the suit are the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Blanche and DEA Administrator Terrance Cole.
SAM CEO Kevin Sabet said in a press release that the cannabis rescheduling order “contravenes both law and science.”
“This order gave federal approval to a new Big Tobacco industry selling cookies, gummies, and sodas laced with highly potent marijuana,” he said. “The public-health carnage wrought by these products is not ‘medical’ and that word should never be associated with them. This is a fight for the next generation. We are continuing our fight to take a step back toward sanity and justice in federal marijuana policy.”
Meanwhile, a House appropriations subcommittee last week voted to block federal officials from taking further steps to carry out cannabis rescheduling.
Last month, SAM and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit seeking to block a Trump administration program to cover certain hemp-derived products through Medicare.
Read the full marijuana rescheduling lawsuit below:
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment. A 25-year veteran in the cannabis and drug law reform movement, he covers the policy, politics, science and culture of marijuana, psychedelics and other substances. He previously reported for Forbes, Marijuana.com and MassRoots, and was given the Hunter S. Thompson Media Award by NORML and has been named Journalist of the Year by Americans for Safe Access. As an activist, Tom founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority and handled media relations, campaigns and lobbying for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
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