Washington, DC: Administrative hearings challenging the US National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) exclusive control of the production and distribution of cannabis for clinical research have been postponed until mid-December. The hearings, which began in August and were scheduled to resume this coming Monday, will now take place the week of December 12, 2005.
Lawyers for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who were to begin presenting their expert witnesses next week, requested the postponement. Witnesses for the respondents – the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and Lyle Craker, director of the UMass-Amherst Medicinal Plant Program – previously testified in August.
At issue in the case is whether the DEA properly rejected an application from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to manufacture cannabis for FDA-approved research. The DEA waited more than three years before officially denying the University’s request, stating that the establishment of such a facility “would not be consistent with the public interest.” Respondents in the case are challenging the DEA’s denial, arguing that a private production facility is in the public interest (as defined by the US Controlled Substances Act) because it would encourage competition in the marketplace and promote technological and scientific advancement in the field of medicine.
“This lawsuit is really our last hope for trying to take marijuana – whether it’s smoked or vaporized – through the FDA regulatory system,” MAPS Executive Director Rick Doblin said.
Earlier this week, Massachusetts Reps. John Olver (D) and Michael Capuano (D), along with several additional members of Congress, sent a formal letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy urging the agency to allow for a private production facility for research-grade cannabis. “At present, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has an unjustifiable monopoly on the production of marijuana for legitimate medical and research purposes in the United States,” the letter said.
For more information, please contact either NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: (202) 483-5500. Additional background regarding MAPS’ administrative law challenge is available online at: http://www.maps.org