The Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the Freedom of Information Act case that sought records of communication between Drug Enforcement Administration and marijuana legalization opponents regarding rescheduling.
DOJ lawyers argued in a motion that was filed on Friday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Texas lawyer Matthew Zorn’s lawsuit is premature because he hadn’t exhaust administrative remedies, and lacked standing to file claims under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The government stated in its motion that “Plaintiff does not have a concrete, specific and imminent or actual injury.” His status as an lawyer representing clients in a administrative proceeding doesn’t give him Article III standing.
Zorn’s dispute revolves around a FOIA Request Zorn made to obtain DEA email containing key words related to marijuana rescheduling, and Smart Approaches to Marijuana(SAM), a group that is anti-legalization. SAM president Kevin Sabet had claimed to have insider information about DEA’s rescheduling position before the public was aware of it.
When these concerns were brought up in administrative hearings, DEA attorneys stated that SAM did not have improper communication with the “DEA Counsel of Record” and remained silent on potential communications with agency officials.
The DOJ’s motion to dismiss argues that Zorn’s revised FOIA request – seeking emails only from DEA employees involved in alleged ex parte contacts – remains overly burdensome and fails to reasonably describe the records sought.
In a DEA Declaration, it is stated that the FOIA Office of DEA does not (and couldn’t feasibly) know if anyone has engaged in any ex parte communications mentioned by Plaintiff.
A DEA administrative court judge recently halted all hearings on the allegation, despite the fact that both the DEA (DEA) and SAM (SAM Agency for Medical Examiners) denied there was any improper contact.
Shane Pennington told Green Market Report that “if we went into the hearing as things are now, without any intervention, it was going to be trouble for a number of reasons, the main one being that the DEA has been working behind the scenes with these prohibitionist parties.”
Protect the People’s Trust is suing HHS again for information about communications between DOJ, HHS and HHS officials regarding the rescheduling. Derek Maltz – who had previously opposed marijuana legislation – became acting administrator of the DEA last month.
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