On May 11, 2012, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, Mass., heard oral arguments (audio, mp3) in the case of Lyle E. Craker v. Drug Enforcement Administration. The arguments are the culmination of 11 years of administrative and legal proceedings in response to the DEA’s denial of a license to Craker to start a production facility under contract to MAPS to grow marijuana exclusively for privately funded, federally regulated medical research. Craker’s attorney from Washington, D.C., law firm Covington & Burling LLP, which is representing Craker pro bono, clarified the issues facing the court and urged the judges to require the DEA to issue Craker’s license. The DEA attempted to get the case thrown out before a ruling by claiming that the court has no jurisdiction over the issue, an argument that the court seems likely to reject. The court’s ruling should come in about three months. Meanwhile, the DEA is succeeding in preventing our medical marijuana research from moving forward. Download the official press release (PDF). Read the complete annotated transcript (PDF).
