The Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to reject a request from marijuana rescheduling opponents to pause the Trump administration's cannabis reform while litigation continues.
DOJ's Thursday brief says the drug testing group and pharmaceutical company seeking the pause have "pocketbook interests served by keeping all marijuana in schedule I."
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is reviewing three consolidated suits challenging the shift of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. Plaintiffs include Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA); a coalition including doctors and biopharmaceutical firm MMJ International Holdings; and the attorneys general of Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana, though Louisiana later withdrew.
NDASA and MMJ separately sought a stay pending the litigation. DOJ argues neither has standing nor shown a "likelihood of success," writing: "Petitioners come nowhere near satisfying the demanding standard for that extraordinary relief."
DOJ said NDASA's claims of lost drug-testing revenue and higher verification costs amount to "generalized speculation," not proof of harm to specific members; added costs, it said, stem from screeners' own "voluntary billing decisions." MMJ, DOJ added, is "not a current market competitor," holding only two pending FDA Investigational New Drug applications with no products through clinical trials. Congress created the CSA to serve "the American public and scientists and medical practitioners," not to guarantee drug screeners income or protect pharmaceutical "market opportunities," DOJ wrote.
NDASA and MMJ called marijuana a "dangerous drug that destroys lives," warning of "devastating effects" from wider access. DOJ countered that 40 states already permit medical marijuana sales, so "there is no basis for concluding that the limited rescheduling action here would materially contribute to those harms during this appeal."
Separately, two medical marijuana companies moved to intervene for the government this week, while DEA opened administrative hearings on rescheduling, citing cannabis's medical value and relative safety versus alcohol and opioids as opponents challenged the underlying analysis.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced in April that state-licensed and FDA-approved marijuana products moved immediately to Schedule III; the hearing also covers broader, recreational rescheduling. The SAM/NDASA suit was filed through Torridon Law PLLC, where former Attorney General William Barr is a partner; SAM said in January it hired Barr's firm after Trump's executive order calling for expedited action.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to block further rescheduling steps, though lawmakers from both parties said in interviews they don't expect the effort to succeed. A separate SAM- and MMJ-backed suit against a Trump administration plan to cover hemp-derived products under Medicare was dismissed in May and remains on appeal.
