Sue ‘n the DEA: A Quick Trip to Federal Court

Please be aware that cannabis and related laws vary. Programming in this track is designed to inform attendees about this fast-changing industry, and does not promote the use or sale of illegal drugs.

We’ll tell you how Dr. Sue Sisley and two young lawyers took on the DEA and won—kind of. It all started here at Sue’s 2019 SXSW Cannabusiness, where Sue met Matt after giving her presentation on her stalled cannabis grow application. From there, Matt spoke to Shane who crystallized the issue. Less than three months later, we were in Court and after a few months in Court, the DEA not only processed our application, but the stalled applications of all 32 other applicants. In this panel, we’ll talk about the difficulties of cannabis research in the United States and our thoughts on how to bring a successful lawsuit against the DEA, why lawsuits in the past haven’t worked, and ways that audience members can help fix this broken system. Finally, at the end, we’ll give the audience a special look ahead and next steps for Sue, Matt, and Shane

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

photo of Shane Pennington
Shane Pennington

Vicente Sederberg LLP

photo of Sue Sisley MD
Sue Sisley MD

Scottsdale Research Institute/Field To Healed Foundation

photo of Matthew Zorn
Matthew Zorn

Yetter Coleman LLP

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