Opponents of marijuana reform want a federal appeals court to block two medical cannabis companies from joining a suit seeking to halt Trump's marijuana rescheduling effort.
MedPharm Iowa, LLC (Bud & Mary's) and Tri-Mountain Pure, LLC asked last month to intervene on the government's side against prohibitionists' suit.
In separate filings, challengers argue the firms lack standing to intervene, with attorneys for Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) writing that the companies "have not identified any argument they would make that would not be pressed by the government."
A second filing, for Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators, Kenneth Finn, MMJ BioPharma Cultivation Inc., MMJ Biopharma Labs, Inc., MMJ International Holdings, Inc. and New Directions Addiction Recovery Services, argues the companies' grievances over taxes, DEA registration, banking, research and hiring are "irrelevant to the issue in this case."
Both filings suggest the companies instead file amicus briefs rather than intervene directly.
Bud & Mary's operates in Iowa; Tri-Mountain Pure is based in Pennsylvania. Both applied for federal registration via a new DEA form for cannabis businesses and say they'd be "directly harmed" if the challenge succeeds.
The consolidated D.C. Circuit case combines three suits: one from SAM and NDASA; one from a coalition of anti-marijuana activists, doctors and a biopharmaceutical company; and one from the attorneys general of Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana, though Louisiana later withdrew.
DOJ recently opposed a bid to pause rescheduling, saying the drug-testing group and pharmaceutical company behind it have "pocketbook interests served by keeping all marijuana in schedule I."
DEA wrapped up an administrative hearing this week where government witnesses stressed marijuana's medical uses and safety relative to alcohol and opioids, while opponents challenged the underlying process.
An April action by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved state-licensed medical and FDA-approved marijuana immediately from Schedule I to Schedule III; the hearing addresses broader rescheduling, including recreational products.
The SAM/NDASA suit was signed by attorneys at Torridon Law PLCC, 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 rescheduling.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to block further rescheduling steps, though bipartisan lawmakers said they don't expect that effort to succeed.
SAM also sued over a Trump administration plan to cover certain hemp products under Medicare; a federal judge dismissed that case in May, and it's now under appeal.
