Two prohibitionist organizations have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn a cannabis rescheduling action that the Trump administration's Department of Justice announced last month.
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday to review and set aside the rescheduling order, claiming both groups have been "aggrieved" by it.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's order moved marijuana products regulated under state medical cannabis licenses — and any FDA-approved marijuana products — from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). A broader administrative hearing that will consider rescheduling recreational products is set for this summer.
The two-page petition alleges the 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."
Attorneys at Torridon Law PLCC signed the petition. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who directed the DOJ during Trump's first term, is a partner at the firm. SAM had announced in January that it retained Barr's firm after Trump signed an executive order directing officials to expeditiously complete the rescheduling process. 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 order "contravenes both law and science," adding: "This order gave federal approval to a new Big Tobacco industry selling cookies, gummies, and sodas laced with highly potent marijuana. 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."
A House appropriations subcommittee voted last week to block federal officials from advancing the rescheduling process further. SAM and other plaintiffs also filed a separate lawsuit last month challenging a Trump administration program to cover certain hemp-derived products through Medicare.
