WASHINGTON, DC—Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) last night filed its prehearing statement in the federal marijuana rescheduling proceeding, set to begin June 29 (SAM’s arguments are scheduled for July 6-7), laying out the scientific case that marijuana meets the legal standard to remain a Schedule I drug. SAM will present two expert witnesses, both of whom the federal government has previously relied on: Dr. Bertha K. Madras, a Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor and former White House drug-policy official whom the Justice Department once called as its own expert to defend marijuana’s Schedule I classification, and Dr. Luli Akinfiresoye, a DEA pharmacologist who was the government’s expert witness in the prior rescheduling hearing. SAM has also asked the Court to issue a subpoena compelling Dr. Akinfiresoye to appear and testify on July 7. The two scientists are expected to testify that today’s high-potency marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use, and drives addiction, psychosis, and serious harm to adolescents, pregnant women, and public health.
“We are putting the science first, including the federal government’s own evidence on how dangerous today’s marijuana really is,” said SAM CEO Kevin A. Sabet. “Rescheduling would hand the marijuana industry a massive tax break and signal to families that this drug is safe, even as the record shows the opposite. This decision must be driven by facts and public health, not by an addiction-for-profit industry.”
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