Federal Court Allows Trump Administration to Proceed With Marijuana Rescheduling
核心洞察
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a stay request from the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (搜索) and MMJ International Holdings (搜索).
The court also denied two medical marijuana companies' motion to intervene, though it will allow them to file amicus briefs.
DEA filed final briefs urging the judge to recommend moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, citing accepted medical use.
A federal appeals court has declined to pause the Trump administration's federal cannabis rescheduling while litigation against the reform proceeds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Wednesday that "petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review."
The stay request came from the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (搜索) (NDASA) and MMJ International Holdings (搜索) and its subsidiaries, which argued that rescheduling would cut taxes on cannabis companies, stimulate the industry and increase marijuana abuse. The Department of Justice (搜索) opposed the motion, telling the court that the challengers have "pocketbook interests served by keeping all marijuana in schedule I" and are not the intended beneficiaries of the Controlled Substances Act. The same order rejected a bid by two medical marijuana companies to intervene on the government's side, finding their interests were adequately represented, but permitted them to file amicus briefs.
The appeals court is weighing three consolidated lawsuits against moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, brought by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (搜索) and NDASA, a coalition of anti-marijuana activists, substance misuse professionals, doctors and MMJ (搜索), and the attorneys general of Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana, with Louisiana later withdrawing. Parties have 30 days to submit proposed briefing formats. Separately, the Drug Enforcement Administration (搜索) filed final briefs in its rescheduling hearing, stating that marijuana "no longer fits the statutory requirements for Schedule I" given a currently accepted medical use and accepted safety under medical supervision, and citing more than 30,000 practitioners treating over six million patients in 43 U.S. jurisdictions. DEA asked the judge to "expeditiously recommend" the Schedule III transfer, with the final decision resting with the DEA administrator.