Arizona Tribune - DEA Defies Supreme Court and Attorney General, Targeting Marijuana Compliant Pharmaceutical Research While Cartels Operate Unchecked

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / May 23, 2025 / In a brazen act of regulatory defiance, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reignited its unlawful campaign against MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, a federally compliant cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical company. This comes in direct contradiction to a Supreme Court ruling, the stance of the Department of Justice (DOJ), and overwhelming public support for medical cannabis reform.

On May 19, the DEA's Office of Administrative Law Judges issued an order rescheduling a prehearing conference with MMJ BioPharma for June 11, 2025. This comes despite the fact that the DOJ-through the Attorney General Pam Bondi-has formally notified federal courts that it will no longer defend the constitutionality of DEA's internal tribunal system. The DEA's administrative law courts were ruled structurally invalid by the Supreme Court for violating Article II of the Constitution.

"This is a rogue agency acting outside the law," said Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ International Holdings. "The DEA is not just obstructing medical research-it's defying the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General."

DEA Crusade Against MMJ Medical Cannabis Developer
MMJ BioPharma has spent more than seven years complying with every federal requirement to develop cannabinoid-based therapies for serious neurological conditions. The company holds:

- Two FDA-accepted INDs
- Orphan Drug Designation for Huntington's disease
- A DEA-registered Schedule I Analytical Laboratory
- Partnerships with GMP-certified manufacturers and international distribution networks

Despite these credentials, the DEA refuses to issue a Schedule I Bulk Manufacturing License-a mandatory step to produce cannabis for FDA-approved clinical trials. Instead of resolving the matter in federal court, the agency is again using a discredited tribunal structure already struck down by the nation's highest court.

The DEA's 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment confirms that transnational cartels continue operating under state cannabis licenses, exploiting regulatory gaps in legalized states. While illicit actors thrive, the agency devotes its energy to obstructing a law-abiding, federally regulated pharmaceutical innovator.

"The irony is glaring," Boise added. "The DEA blocks lawful drug development while criminal enterprises profit. The agency is both gatekeeper and roadblock-and now, a constitutional liability."

A Constitutional and Scientific Crisis

Science Denied:
- DEA disregards the 2023 HHS recommendation, based on FDA-reviewed evidence, to reclassify cannabis as Schedule III
- Ignores decades of clinical data from global medical programs on epilepsy, chronic pain, and PTSD

Constitutional Violations:
- DEA continues using tribunals declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
- DEA operates in defiance of the Attorney General's directive that DOJ will not defend these proceedings

Public Will Ignored:
- 69% of 40,000+ public comments called for full descheduling
- DEA continues to invoke debunked "gateway drug" rhetoric

Economic Harm:
- DEA delays access to treatments for Huntington's, MS, and pain
- All while the U.S. federally illegal cannabis market exceeds $32 billion annually

"The DEA is enforcing a backroom hidden anti marijuana agenda-not public safety," said Boise. "While cartels flourish, the agency uses taxpayer resources to sabotage federally compliant innovators and delay treatments for suffering patients. This is no longer about regulation-this is rogue retaliation."

The Path Forward: Accountability Now

MMJ International Holdings calls on:
- Congress to launch oversight hearings into DEA obstruction and administrative abuse
- DOJ to halt all unconstitutional proceedings in accordance with the Axon ruling
- DEA nominee Terrance Cole to commit to ending the agency's war on science

"The DEA's credibility is bankrupt," Boise concluded. "It's time for Congress to end this obstruction-patients' lives depend on it."

MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan.

CONTACT:
Madison Hisey
[email protected]
203-231-8583

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

P.Hernandez--AT