Arizona Tribune - Pres. Trump's Chance to Fix DEA's Marijuana Policy Failures: Rescheduling?

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / August 19, 2025 / For too long, the DEA has written rules, then ignored them. It has promised science, then sidelined it. Patients with Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis have been told to wait, while recreational markets flourish outside federal control.

President Trump's consideration of rescheduling marijuana is the first serious chance in decades to break this cycle. The challenge now is ensuring that reform does not just enrich Big Weed - but instead delivers on the promise of real medicine.

That's the difference. That's why MMJ matters.

A Risk Worth Facing Carefully

President Trump is weighing whether to reschedule marijuana at the federal level. Critics warn this could hand a windfall to the $33 billion cannabis industry, which has cloaked itself in medical rhetoric while chasing profits through high-potency recreational products. They are right to be skeptical: today's marijuana bears little resemblance to the mild 5% THC plant of decades ago. Gummies, vapes, and concentrates now approach 99% THC, raising real risks of psychosis, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, as large-scale studies in Denmark and Sweden have shown.

Trump, who never drank or smoked after losing his brother Fred Jr. to alcoholism, understands personally the devastation of addiction. Newly confirmed DEA Administrator Terrance Cole has also signaled a tough line, writing bluntly: "Everybody knows my stance on marijuana after 30 plus years in law enforcement, so don't even ask!" His priorities - fentanyl, cartels, and violent drug trafficking - point clearly away from Big Weed's agenda.

But here's the crucial distinction: not all marijuana is the same, and not all companies are Big Weed.

The Evidence of Benefit Cannot Be Ignored
Yes, the risks are real. But so too are the thousands of patients who have long reported relief from cannabis.

• Cancer patients use it to control nausea and pain.

• MS patients to ease spasticity.

• Children with epilepsy to reduce seizures.

These are not isolated stories - they represent a consistent pattern of strong anecdotal evidence suggesting cannabis compounds may hold therapeutic value.

The problem? Anecdotes are not enough. To separate myth from medicine, cannabis must be tested like any other drug - through rigorous, FDA-supervised clinical trials.

MMJ: From Anecdote to Medicine
This is where MMJ BioPharma is different. Unlike recreational marijuana companies or state dispensaries, MMJ has built a true pharmaceutical pathway:

• Two FDA-approved INDs (Investigational New Drug applications): For Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

• FDA Orphan Drug Designation: For Huntington's Disease.

• DEA Schedule I analytical lab registration: Already in place and compliant.

• Softgel Capsule Manufactured Under FDA Directives: MMJ has already produced a reproducible, final-dose form gel cap that meets the definition of medicine - not snake oil.

This capsule is not a dispensary product or a vape pen. It is a standardized, pharmaceutical grade medicine designed to be taken by patients under physician supervision. Reproducibility has been achieved - the cornerstone of real science. Now MMJ seeks to prove efficacy in FDA authorized human clinical trials.

DEA's Broken Promises
In 2020, the DEA pledged that new marijuana licenses would prioritize science: applicants would need bona fide FDA protocols, supply agreements with researchers, and the capacity to produce adequate quantities for trials.

Four years later, not one registrant has delivered. Some never planted a seed. Others produced trivial amounts. None filed with the FDA.

Meanwhile, the only company that meets DEA's published criteria - MMJ BioPharma, with FDA INDs, Orphan Designation, and a manufactured softgel capsule - remains stalled.

The Path Trump and Cole Can Take
The choice for President Trump and Administrator Cole is not between legalization and prohibition. It is between:

• Big Weed's recreational profiteering that fuels addiction, psychosis, and chaos.

• FDA-regulated, science-driven pharmaceutical research that could deliver safe, effective medicines to patients with no alternatives.

Trump and Cole can reject Big Weed while supporting MMJ's mission to turn anecdotal evidence into approved therapies. Patients with Huntington's and Multiple Sclerosis deserve more than dispensary "snake oil." They deserve real medicine, developed under federal law, proven through science.

Promises Made, Promises Not Kept - Until Now?
DEA has failed to live up to its own commitments. But with rescheduling now on the table, President Trump and Terrance Cole have the chance to make a historic course correction: to draw a clear line between recreational profiteering and pharmaceutical science, between snake oil and medicine.

That is the path forward. That is the fix. That is why MMJ matters.

MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan.

CONTACT:
Madison Hisey
[email protected]
203-231-85832

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings

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A.Williams--AT