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The U.S. Department of Justice has renewed its push to dismiss a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Texas attorney Matthew Zorn, who seeks access to communications between Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials and anti-legalization advocates regarding a proposal to reclassify marijuana under federal law.

In a motion to dismiss filed Friday in D.C. federal court, the DOJ contended that Zorn’s lawsuit is unripe because he has not exhausted administrative remedies and lacks standing under Article III of the Constitution.

"Plaintiff has not suffered a concrete and particularized, actual or imminent injury in fact," the government’s motion states. It further argues that Zorn’s role as an attorney in related administrative proceedings does not grant him personal standing to assert that federal agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

Government Defends DEA's Handling of Alleged Communications

The DOJ also maintains that Zorn’s claims under the APA are not ready for judicial review, asserting that the DEA’s alleged failure to disclose ex parte communications does not constitute a final agency action.

"An agency cannot put an ex parte communication on the record if it does not know of its existence or contents," the DOJ stated. Additionally, the motion argues that Zorn's pending administrative appeal further underscores that no final agency decision has been made, making the claims premature.

The legal battle follows a DEA tribunal’s recent decision to halt hearings on the U.S. attorney general’s proposal to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III—a move that would ease federal restrictions on cannabis. The suspension was granted to allow a subset of pro-rescheduling parties, including Zorn, to pursue an interlocutory appeal with the DEA administrator over concerns that the DEA is internally opposed to reclassification, despite publicly supporting the change.

Allegations of Undisclosed DEA Contact With Anti-Legalization Group

At the heart of Zorn’s lawsuit are statements made by Kevin Sabet, the president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a leading anti-legalization nonprofit participating in the rescheduling hearings.

Sabet publicly claimed to have insider knowledge that the DEA had not approved the rescheduling proposal before it was made public. In response, Zorn filed his original FOIA lawsuit in December, seeking to uncover any communications between DEA personnel and SAM.

In an amended complaint filed in January, Zorn dismissed the DEA’s claims that it was unaware of any such correspondence as "misplaced." He pointed to DEA attorneys’ prehearing statements before the agency’s tribunal, where they denied improper contact between SAM and the DEA’s counsel of record but remained silent on whether other DEA officials had engaged in such communications.