DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney has denied a motion by Cannabis Bioscience International Holdings (CBIH), which sought to include Alexis Bortell, a long-time medical marijuana advocate and patient, as a witness in the DEA’s upcoming hearing on marijuana rescheduling.
The judge’s denial cited procedural and evidentiary issues.
CBIH’s initial petition emphasized the significance of Bortell’s testimony, highlighting her journey as a patient with intractable epilepsy who found relief through a combination of CBD and THC. CBIH argued that her experience demonstrated the life-saving potential of medical marijuana and the urgent need for reclassification from Schedule I, which deems the substance to have no accepted medical use. The company believed her testimony would underscore the human cost of cannabis prohibition.
Despite these arguments, the judge ruled against allowing Bortell as a witness, stating that CBIH filed the request too late in the process and without sufficient justification. The motion, according to Judge Mulrooney, “exceeds the one-witness-per-Designated-Party limitations established in this case” and lacked “good cause” for its timing. Furthermore, the judge noted that the proposed testimony was “essentially anecdotal” and did not include supporting medical documentation or controlled evidence that could substantiate claims relevant to the rescheduling decision.
The judge emphasized that testimony from Bortell would not materially contribute to the scientific and medical determinations required for the hearing.
