DEA Is Compromised, DOJ Should Replace It In Cannabis Rescheduling, Claims Joint Motion
Village Farms International, Inc. (NASDAQ:VFF) and Hemp for Victory filed a joint motion seeking to disqualify the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from defending the proposed rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
The parties argue that the DEA is compromised and opposes the rescheduling, suggesting its role should be taken by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure an impartial process.
“It is our belief that the DEA cannot lawfully act as the proponent of the Proposed Rule and that its actions throughout the administrative process demonstrate that it opposes the proposed transfer of marijuana to Schedule III and is therefore compromised,” Shane Pennington, partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP and counsel to Village Farms and Hemp for Victory commented, “Treating the DEA as the proponent of the Proposed Rule would violate APA and DEA regulations and render these proceedings a sham. Lawyers from the Department of Justice, not the Drug Enforcement Administration, must therefore defend this rule.”
In August 2023, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra confirmed his agency responded to President Biden’s directive to provide scheduling recommendations for cannabis to the DEA. HHS called for marijuana to be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act.
The motion argues that “Not once in its history as an agency had DEA ever rejected an HHS scheduling recommendation. This time, however, DEA did not just disagree with HHS’s views, it opposed them so vehemently that the Attorney General had to refer the interagency dispute to the Office of Legal Counsel for resolution.”
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