The Drug Enforcement Administration has rehired a special agent and will pay him back for his termination after he tested positive for THC, which he attributed CBD he took as an alternative opioid for chronic pain. The agency reached a settlement agreement in a suit challenging the termination .
Anthony Armour, who was fired by the DEA for failing to pass a random drug test in 2019, filed a lawsuit against the agency in the U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit in 2018. He claimed that the agency did not have grounds to fire him because he used what he thought to be a federally-legal hemp product without any evidence he intended break the law.
Armour won last week. DEA agreed to reinstate him with back pay, and restored his eligibility for a retirement.
The New York Times reported first that the agency had also agreed to pay for the plaintiff’s legal costs, although a court filing stated that “each party shall bear their own attorney fees, cost and expenses.”
The Justice Department admitted that Armour was a “outstanding” agent during his 16 years of service but said his “reckless conduct” in consuming CBD justifies the termination.
The Times reported that Armour was “excited” to be returning to work for the DEA. said Armour would return to Houston’s office on Monday. I hope to end my career with DEA by supporting its mission of taking dangerous drugs such as fentanyl from the streets.
Matt Zorn, Armour’s lawyer, argues that DEA did not have a CBD-related policy for its employees at the time the termination was made, about a year following the federal legalization of hemp and its derivatives under the 2018 Farm Bill.
In 2021 the agency updated its policy to ask only about hemp and cannabidiol usage prior to federal legalization. In the years that followed, multiple federal departments adopted CBD guidelines that cautioned against the use of the non-intoxicating cannabis cannabinoid.
The agreement between DEA and the settlement comes at a time when the agency is completing a broader review of marijuana scheduling in response to a directive issued by President Joe Biden for 2022. The federal agency that oversees health has recommended moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. DEA, however, has insisted on having “final authority”.
In Armour’s situation, there was a question as to whether a Schedule III reclassification could prevent DEA from enforcing its employment penalty. The agency had relied upon an executive order of the Reagan era in defining “illegal drugs,” which are any Schedule I or Schedule II drug that is not prescribed.
Armour, for his part told Marijuana Moment in 2013 that he personally supports legalization. He called it a policy of “commonsense”.
He said: “The science supporting legalization has always been there. It’s just that it was ignored for so long.” “Thank goodness, there are people who can bring this issue to the forefront and educate many people.”
The DEA also proposed producing even more THC and DMT to be used for research purposes, than what it originally proposed for 2024. This would increase the quotas set for these drugs, while still maintaining high production targets for marijuana and other psychedelics.
DEA’s Schedule I drug production quotas are cited as proof that it supports rigorous research on the substances. However, advocates and scientists have criticized its actions as being antithetical to promoting study.
The DEA, for example, announced last month it was taking another crack at after abandoning its initial scheduling proposal of 2022. This sparked a new battle with researchers and activists who claim the compounds have therapeutic potential.
Separately, the agency has backed away from a proposal that would have banned five different tryptamine-psychedelics by 2022 due to a large pushback from research and advocacy communities .
Below, you can read legal documents related to Armour’s case against the DEA:
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