{"id":138,"date":"2017-11-02T14:23:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T18:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/?p=138"},"modified":"2017-11-03T11:08:21","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T15:08:21","slug":"appellate-ruling-confirms-new-jerseys-authority-to-reschedule-marijuana-but-does-not-mandate-rescheduling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/2017\/11\/02\/appellate-ruling-confirms-new-jerseys-authority-to-reschedule-marijuana-but-does-not-mandate-rescheduling\/","title":{"rendered":"Appellate Ruling Confirms New Jersey\u2019s Authority to Reschedule Marijuana, But Does Not Mandate Rescheduling"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul P. Josephson<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In a rare 2-1 decision, New Jersey\u2019s intermediate appeals court has overturned the decision<\/a> of New Jersey\u2019s Director of Consumer Affairs that he does not have the authority to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule IV substance.\u00a0 The dissent affords the state the right of appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and the state quickly confirmed it will appeal.<\/p>\n

Contrary to several early press reports, including Associated Press coverage reprinted nationally, the appellate judges did not <\/em>require the Director to review Schedule I status.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The court simply held \u201cthat the Director erred in determining he lacked authority to reclassify\u201d when he rejected a petition for reclassification submitted by a convicted drug kingpin.\u00a0 The decision highlighted the plight of a far more sympathetic amicus, a child for whom marijuana provides the only effective relief from seizures and who is unable to have school nurses administer prescribed marijuana on school grounds due to Schedule I classification.<\/p>\n

The court specifically held it was not determining whether the current classification is justified.\u00a0 While that issue \u201cis certainly ripe for a determination by the Director,\u201d the court did \u201cnot mandate reclassification.\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority did note that recent research and authorization of medicinal marijuana in New Jersey and other states suggested that marijuana no longer met the Schedule I requirement that a substance have \u201cno commonly accepted medical use in treatment\u201d in the US, or \u201clack accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision.\u201d\u00a0 The court observed that medical benefits from the use of marijuana \u201care abundant and glaringly apparent now,\u201d suggesting that there may be a legal basis for the Director to reschedule marijuana.<\/p>\n

With New Jersey upcoming governor\u2019s election being held next week, the decision is most important in that it clears the way for the next governor to reclassify marijuana if she or he is inclined.\u00a0 As a reported decision, it is of binding statewide effect unless appealed and overturned.\u00a0 The Governor appoints the Attorney General in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

The decision also underscores the central role New Jersey\u2019s next Attorney General will have in future state marijuana regulation.\u00a0 The Director of Consumer Affairs reports to the AG, and the Division of Marijuana Enforcement proposed in pending adult use legislation will likewise report to the AG.\u00a0 As well, the AG also advises the Department of Health on the existing medicinal program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul P. Josephson In a rare 2-1 decision, New Jersey\u2019s intermediate appeals court has overturned the decision of New Jersey\u2019s Director of Consumer Affairs that he does not have the authority to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule IV substance.\u00a0 The dissent affords the state the right of appeal to the New … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Appellate Ruling Confirms New Jersey\u2019s Authority to Reschedule Marijuana, But Does Not Mandate Rescheduling”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63,8,35,126],"ppma_author":[718],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-cannabis","tag-marijuana","tag-new-jersey","tag-paul-josephson"],"authors":[{"term_id":718,"user_id":295,"is_guest":0,"slug":"ppjosephson","display_name":"Paul P. Josephson","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2017\/11\/josephsonpaul-1-125x150.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}