On Tuesday, the Justice Department urged a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed Monday by prominent members of the cannabis industry that aims to stop the government from enforcing its ban on marijuana, even though some states have legalized it within their borders.
The DOJ lawsuit essentially says that the court should not get ahead of a possible cannabis rescheduling decision by the DEA, which is under consideration.
In a document filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Tuesday, lawyers for Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Congress “rationally set up an administrative process for rescheduling drugs,” reported Marijuana Moment.
“It is not for the courts to disrupt or get ahead of that administrative process,” the DOJ stated as it urged the court to wait for the DEA’s decision before considering the industry’s challenge.
But the government’s defense goes beyond procedural concerns. It also argues that the cannabis businesses involved in the suit lack standing, meaning they have not suffered direct injury. They have not been federally prosecuted under the prohibition nor from a long-standing congressional rider that restricts the DOJ from using funds to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana laws.
Furthermore, the DOJ argues that Congress’s measures, including permitting federal territories to legalize marijuana and refraining from prosecuting activities that comply with state laws, fulfill a “rational purpose.” This approach, according to the DOJ, allows for experimentation while directing federal efforts towards more pressing issues.
Another key part of the government’s strategy involves invoking a 2005 Supreme Court decision, Raich v. Gonzales, which upheld the federal ban on interstate marijuana commerce. The DOJ views the industry’s challenge as a transparent attempt to overturn this precedent.
“Federal regulation of intrastate marijuana activities is constitutional because such activities ‘substantially affect interstate commerce,’” the department argued, dismissing the industry’s claim that the ban violates the Commerce Clause.
The government asserts that the industry lacks standing to…
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