United States v. Daniel Touby, United States of America v. Lyrissa Touby

909 F.2d 759
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedAugust 21, 1990
Docket89-5604, 89-5605
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 909 F.2d 759 (United States v. Daniel Touby, United States of America v. Lyrissa Touby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Daniel Touby, United States of America v. Lyrissa Touby, 909 F.2d 759 (3d Cir. 1990).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

Defendants, who were convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and the manufacturing of a substance which was temporarily designated as a Schedule I controlled substance, contend that the statutory delegation to the United States Attorney General of the power to temporarily schedule drugs is unconstitutional and that his sub-delegation of that power by regulation to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is unauthorized.

I.

Background

Defendants Daniel and Lyrissa Touby, husband and wife, were arrested January 6, 1989 at their home in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and charged with conspiring to manufacture and knowingly and intentionally manufacturing 4-methylaminorex, a Schedule I controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (1988) and 21 U.S.C. § 846 (1988). 4-methylaminorex, a stimulant referred to as Euphoria, was placed on Schedule I by the DEA Administrator on October 15, 1987 pursuant to the temporary scheduling provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 811(h) (1988). The Toubys filed a pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment challenging the temporary scheduling of Euphoria, which the district court denied.

Daniel and Lyrissa Touby were convicted following a jury trial and sentenced to forty-two and twenty-seven months’ imprisonment, respectively. Defendants filed a timely appeal and now renew their attack on the temporary scheduling process and on the sufficiency of the evidence as to Lyrissa Touby, an issue raised by her in a motion for a judgment of acquittal pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29, and rejected by the district court. In addition, Daniel Tou-[762]*762by has raised certain other contentions in his pro se brief.

We turn first to the issue of the constitutionality of the delegation and subdelegation of the temporary scheduling power.

II.

The Delegation Issues

A.

Statutory Background

In setting forth the background and legislative history of both the permanent and temporary scheduling provisions, we borrow liberally from the opinion of Judge Ackerman of the district court. See 710 F.Supp. 551, 552-55 (D.N.J.1989).

In 1970, Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, Pub.L. No. 91-513, 84 Stat. 1236 (1970); Title II of that Act is known as the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) (current version at 21 U.S.C. §§ 801-904 (1988)). The statute provides for placement of certain controlled substances on five different schedules. Scheduling a drug effectively criminalizes its use, manufacture and distribution, and determines the nature of the offense and the length of the sentence that may be imposed. The schedules range from Schedule I, listing substances that have a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the substance under medical supervision, to Schedule V, listing substances with a relatively low potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and abuse of which may lead to limited dependence relative to the drugs on Schedules I through IV. See 21 U.S.C. § 812(b)(1), (5). The penalties vary accordingly.

The statute lists certain substances on each of the five schedules, but also provides that the Attorney General can add substances to the schedules, remove some, and transfer between the schedules. See 21 U.S.C. § 811(a). The statute circumscribes the Attorney General’s power to add substances in several respects. First, it lists the factors that must be considered for each substance proposed to be controlled, i.e., (1) its actual or relative potential for abuse; (2) scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known; (3) the state of current scientific knowledge regarding the drug or other substance; (4) its history and current pattern of abuse; (5) the scope, duration, and significance of abuse; (6) what, if any, risk there is to the public health; (7) its psychic or physiological dependence liability; and (8) whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this subchapter. Id. § 811(c). Second, the statute requires that the Attorney General obtain a “scientific and medical” evaluation of the substance from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, which is binding if the Secretary recommends that the Attorney General should not schedule the substance. Id. § 811(b). Finally, before adding a substance to the schedules, the Attorney General must follow the notice and hearing provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), codified at 5 U.S.C. §§ 551-559. 21 U.S.C. § 811(a).

In 1973, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 871(a), the Attorney General promulgated a regulation subdelegating performance of the functions delegated to him by Congress under the CSA to the DEA Administrator. See 28 C.F.R. § 0.100(b) (1986).1

Because the process of permanent scheduling contained an inevitable lag time, Congress amended the CSA in 1984 to permit the Attorney General to schedule substances on a temporary basis to “avoid an imminent hazard to the public safety” after consideration of those factors set out in 21 U.S.C. § 811(c)(4), (5) and (6), which relate to the history, current pattern, scope, duration and significance of abuse of the substance, and the risk it poses to the public [763]*763health. 21 U.S.C. § 811(h)(1), (3). There is to be notice of the Attorney General’s intention to temporarily schedule a substance published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Secretary of HHS, whose comments must be taken into consideration. Id. § 811(h)(4). The duration of temporary scheduling of a substance is limited to one year with a possible extension up to six months. Id. § 811(h)(2).

The Attorney General amended the sub-delegation regulation on July 1, 1987, assigning to the DEA Administrator the “[functions vested in the Attorney General by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, as amended.” 28 C.F.R. § 0.100(b) (1989).

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Bluebook (online)
909 F.2d 759, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-daniel-touby-united-states-of-america-v-lyrissa-touby-ca3-1990.