John Lawn rejected (not reversed) Francis Young's recommendation (not ruling) on the grounds that there had been no extensive large-scale controlled studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of medical marijuana.
"If these hearings weren't intended by the congress to carry some sort of weight, why do we bother with them?"
These were not Congressional hearings. It was ALJ Francis Young presiding over a hearing attended by a group of 9 people representing various interests presenting their data to the U.S. DOJ/DEA.
The ALJ received this data in the hearing, typed it up, and submitted a 69-page report, along with his recommendation, to the DEA. The DEA looked it over and rejected it.
I bet this happens all over Washington 100 times a day by various interest groups petitioning various government agencies.
And at the end of the day the bureaucrats and regulators at those agencies will do whatever is in their best interest.
Reversed has a precise legal meaning, and that is the word that appears in court proceedings regarding this issue before the higher courts. This wasn't a coffee klatch, it was a compulsory hearing regarding drug classification, and clearly, the illegality of it was questioned before higher courts, and upheld at least once, so my claim of questionable legality stands, and your claim that it was obviously just a meaningless afternoon tea party falls.