DEA Faces Another Lawsuit Over Handling of Cannabis Rescheduling

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is facing another legal challenge over its handling of the cannabis rescheduling process. 

Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR), a nonprofit group of medical professionals representing over 400 physicians, has become the latest organisation to accuse the DEA of bias against cannabis reform.

It has now launched a legal challenge against the administration, submitting a 56-page brief to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Monday, February 17, calling for the selection process to be redone.

D4DPR’s legal challenge alleges that the DEA acted arbitrarily when it limited the number of participants at the hearing, which is now on hold indefinitely, rejecting 138 out of 163 applicants.

Furthermore, they have called the process ‘opaque,’ arguing that no explanation was provided as to why certain participants were selected over others and why the majority of participants were opposed to rescheduling.

If D4DPR’s appeal succeeds and the selection process needs to be redone, the already turbulent path to cannabis rescheduling would be further delayed.

It comes as cannabis advocates continue to try and gauge the Trump administration’s postition on cannabis in the US, with another new anti-cannabis DEA administrator announced last week. 

According to a recent report from Benzinga, who spoke to former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger, there is a widening chasm appearing in the GOP regarding drug policy.

“There is a group within this kind of new Republican Party that is very hardcore anti-drug,” Kinzinger said, describing a faction rooted in Reagan-era prohibitionist policies. However, he notes a rising libertarian wing that supports cannabis and psychedelic reform, a divide that could shape the future of US drug policy.

Kinzinger also believes federal cannabis legalization is inevitable, predicting that the US will see either full legalization or decriminalization within the next decade.