A coalition of marijuana legalization activists gathered outside Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters on Monday ahead of the start of a hearing an agency judge is overseeing on the Trump administration’s proposal to reschedule cannabis—criticizing the fact that no supporters of reform were invited to participate and that the proceedings are not being livestreamed despite officials’ vows of “transparency.”
Among those who are excluded from the hearing are representatives from groups that have “spent decades advancing sensible cannabis policy,” former federal prisoners who “lived through the worst excesses of prohibition,” medical experts who “dedicated their careers to understanding cannabis and how it can help people” and legal cannabis business owners whose “futures will be shaped by whatever happens inside that hearing room, Kat Murti, executive director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said.
“Many of them asked to participate in today’s hearing. All of them were denied their expertise, their experiences, their voices, their lives,” she said. “None of that will be heard inside the DEA courtroom.”
“Instead, we are forced to hold this press conference on the sidewalk because the people most affected by federal cannabis policy have been shut out of the conversation, and the DEA has handpicked
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