Cannabis Industry Members Sued Over DEA Over-Regulation

The Hemp Industry Association (HIA) and RE Botanicals, Inc. filed a federal court complaint against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Monday, citing regulatory oversights that threaten to disrupt the domestic hemp industry before it even starts. The plaintiffs are represented by cannabis law firms Vicente Sederberg LLP, Kight Law Office PC and Hoban Law Group.

The plaintiffs called the pharmaceutical agency’s misinterpretation of the 2018 Agriculture Act regarding hemp production “a long-standing effort to regulate legal hemp production beyond statutory and delegated authority.”

The new 30-page complaint, filed with the US Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is a case that illustrates the over-tightening of cannabis regulation by the DEA, which the plaintiffs believe effectively impedes the approval of the US hemp industry, like other legal agricultural businesses.

This latest filing follows a revision petition filed by HIA and RE Botanicals in mid-September, also to the US Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which is indicting the DEA and its acting administrator Timothy Shea.