DEA Prevails in Appeal Over Requested Rescheduling of Marijuana

The DEA was right to deny a one-page, handwritten request from a petitioner who asked the agency to reschedule marijuana in all its forms under the Controlled Substances Act, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday.

California state prisoner Stephen Zyszkiewicz joined medical cannabis patient Jeramy Bowers in asking the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency via a letter in January 2020 to reschedule marijuana under the CSA, and they were met with a denial by the agency in April 2020. Zyszkiewicz said he was convicted and imprisoned for selling cannabis, and that the classification is “untenable.”

The district court denied mandamus and the ...