Opinion ID: 785067
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Statutory Definition of Marijuana

Text: Under 21 U.S.C. § 802(16): 39 The term marihuana means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin. Such term does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination. 40 The non-psychoactive hemp in Appellants' products is derived from the mature stalks or is oil and cake made from the seeds of the Cannabis plant, and therefore fits within the plainly stated exception to the CSA definition of marijuana. 41 Congress was aware of the presence of trace amounts of psychoactive agents (later identified as THC) in the resin of non-psychoactive hemp when it passed the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, and when it adopted the Tax Act marijuana definition in the CSA. As a result, when Congress excluded from the definition of marijuana mature stalks of such plant, fiber ..., [and] oil or cake made from the seeds, it also made an exception to the exception, and included resin extracted from the excepted parts of the plant in the definition of marijuana, despite the stalks and seeds exception. 5 21 U.S.C. § 802(16). Congress knew what it was doing, and its intent to exclude non-psychoactive hemp from regulation is entirely clear. The DEA's Final Rules are inconsistent with the unambiguous meaning of the CSA definitions of marijuana and THC, and the DEA did not use the appropriate scheduling procedures to add non-psychoactive hemp to the list of controlled substances. 42 Although we have determined that non-psychoactive hemp is not banned under Schedule I, we need not determine in this proceeding whether under the current statute it could be listed if the agency were to undertake appropriate rulemaking. We hold only that the DEA did not follow the requisite proceedings for scheduling under 21 U.S.C. §§ 811(a) and 812(b). The Final Rules therefore may not be enforced with respect to THC that is found within the parts of Cannabis plants that are excluded from the CSA's definition of marijuana or that is not synthetic. 43 We find unambiguous Congress' intent with regard to the regulation of non-psychoactive hemp. Therefore, we reject the Final Rules at step one of the Chevron test and need not reach Chevron step two. 6