Cannabis advocates celebrated when the Trump administration moved to reschedule state-legal medical marijuana. Many anticipated legal challenges, which arrived this week when a lawsuit seeking to block the change was filed in federal court.
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The lawsuit was filed by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA). SAM, a prominent anti-cannabis group, filed a separate lawsuit earlier this year seeking to block a new Medicaid pilot program focused on CBD.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is named in the lawsuit alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and DEA Administrator Terrance Cole, issued a final order last month moving FDA-approved cannabis products and state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
“The administration’s decision to advance marijuana rescheduling is illegal in multiple ways and, as such, we will be taking legal action immediately,” SAM previously said in a statement after news of the rescheduling order broke.
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The petition argues the rescheduling order violates federal law under both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Controlled Substances Act.
“The AG Rescheduling Order exceeds the statutory authority of the Attorney General … and is otherwise arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law,” the filing states.
“SAM and NDASA respectfully request that the Court review and set aside the Order in whole,” the filing concludes.
Representatives for the Department of Justice and SAM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The lawsuit isn’t the only rescheduling roadblock in play. A congressional subcommittee voted last week on a measure that would block officials from taking further action on rescheduling. However, the bill is not final, and similar efforts have failed in the past.
Despite broad public support for cannabis reform in the U.S., opposition remains. The latest legal and political challenges to rescheduling show prohibition advocates continuing to fight the proposed change.
