[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 42986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-20234]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Drug Enforcement Administration


Lawson and Associations; Denial of Application

    On November 5, 1998, the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 
Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued an 
Order to Show Cause to Lawson and Associates, of Nashville, Tennessee, 
notifying it of an opportunity to show cause as to why DEA should not 
deny its application for a DEA Certificate of Registration as a 
researcher pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 823(f), for reason that is not 
currently authorized to handle controlled substances in the State of 
Tennessee. The order also notified Lawson and Associates that should no 
request for a hearing be filed within 30 days of receipt of the Order 
to Show Cause, its hearing right would be deemed waived.
    DEA received a signed receipt indicating that the Order to Show 
Cause was received on November 23, 1998. No request for a hearing or 
any other reply was received by the DEA from Lawson and Associates or 
anyone purporting to represent it in this matter. Therefore, the Deputy 
Administrator, finding that (1) 30 days have passed since the receipt 
of the Order to Show Cause, and (2) no request for a hearing having 
been received, concludes that Lawson and Associates is deemed to have 
waived its hearing right. After considering material from the 
investigative file in this matter, the Deputy Administrator now enters 
his final order without a hearing pursuant to 21 CFR 1301.43(d) and (e) 
and 1301.46.
    The Deputy Administrator finds that DEA registers dog handlers as 
researchers pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 823(f). The Deputy Administrator 
further finds that there is a letter in the investigative file dated 
June 9, 1997, from the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy which indicates that 
Lawson and Associates was issued a license as a dog handler on November 
15, 1995, but that the license expired on November 30, 1996, and has 
not been renewed. Lawson and Associates did not present any evidence to 
indicate that it was currently licensed in Tennessee as a dog handler.
    The Deputy Administrator concludes that Lawson and Associates is 
not currently licensed as a dog handler in the State of Tennessee and 
therefore, it is reasonable to infer that it is not currently 
authorized to handle controlled substances in that state. The DEA does 
not have the statutory authority under the Controlled Substances Act to 
issue or maintain a registration if the applicant or registrant is 
without states authority to handle controlled substances in the state 
in which it conducts its business. See 21 U.S.C. 802(21), 823(f) and 
824(a)(3). This prerequisite has been consistently upheld. See Romeo J. 
Perez, M.D., 62 FR. 16193 (1997); Demetris A. Green, M.D., 61 FR 60,728 
(1996); Dominick A. Ricci, M.D., 58 FR 51104 (1993).
    Here it is clear that Lawson and Associates is not currently 
authorized to handle controlled substances in the State of Tennessee. 
As a result, it is not entitled to a DEA registration in that state.
    Accordingly, the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, pursuant to the authority vested in him by 21 U.S.C. 
823 and 824 and 28 CFR 0.100(b) and 0.104, hereby orders that the 
application for registration submitted by Lawson and Associates, be, 
and it hereby is, denied. This order is effective August 6, 1999.

    Dated: July 27, 1999.
Donnie R. Marshall,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-20234 Filed 8-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-09-M