Arizona Tribune - Where Is The Catholic Marijuana Vote For The Patients?

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / August 26, 2025 / Nearly fifty organizations - including CatholicVote - have urged President Trump not to reschedule marijuana, citing fear for children and public safety. But where is that same moral urgency when it comes to patients suffering from Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis?

Right now, MMJ BioPharma Cultivation has spent seven years battling its own government just to produce FDA-regulated cannabis medicines for clinical trials. Instead of supporting science, regulators have trapped the company in a bureaucratic maze that the courts are increasingly calling unconstitutional.

A Broken Tribunal System

At the center of MMJ's fight is the DEA's Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) system - a closed-door tribunal where the agency plays investigator, prosecutor, and judge.

• Article II Violation - Presidential Oversight Blocked: DEA ALJs are insulated from removal by multiple layers of "for-cause" protection. Even the DOJ admitted in 2025 this setup violates the Constitution.

• Seventh Amendment Violation - Jury Trial Denied: The Supreme Court in SEC v. Jarkesy (2024) struck down similar in-house proceedings.

• Axon v. FTC - Here-and-Now Injury: Being dragged through an unconstitutional tribunal is itself a constitutional injury, SCOTUS ruled in 2023.

Still, the DEA insists on keeping MMJ locked inside this kangaroo court.

Catch-22 Rulemaking and Moving Goalposts

MMJ's experience reveals the absurdity of DEA's obstruction:

• DEA demanded a "bona fide supply agreement" with a DEA-registered researcher - knowing no such researchers exist until DEA approves them.

• DEA applied rules retroactively, creating a compliance trap.

• DEA nitpicked vault construction, forcing MMJ to repour concrete floors at a cost of $25,000 and spend $100,000on a vault to protect against "underground tunneling."

Meanwhile, the company pays $20,000 a month in rent for a facility it is barred from using.

Bias, Misconduct, and Delay

• DEA's ALJ granted the government an extension on a filing deadline while denying MMJ the same request.

• DEA's lead attorney, Aarathi Haig, was found ineligible for a Certificate of Good Standing with the New Jersey Bar due to compliance failures.

Yet the case continues, stacked against MMJ.

The Human Cost

While regulators play games, patients suffer.

MMJ's FDA-approved clinical trials are designed to deliver standardized, pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid soft-gel capsules. These are not dispensary products. These are real medicines built for Huntington's and MS patients.

Instead, DEA's obstruction delays science, denies hope, and wastes millions in private investment meant to advance care.

Where Is the Catholic Vote for the Patients?

CatholicVote has mobilized to block marijuana rescheduling in the name of protecting children. But what about protecting patients? What about the families of Huntington's and Multiple Sclerosis sufferers who desperately need treatment options?

Faith-based voices should be demanding access to safe, FDA-regulated medicine - not standing silently while bureaucracy crushes it.

Time for Administrator Cole to Act

New DEA Administrator Terry Cole must decide: defend an unconstitutional system, or follow the law and let science proceed.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," said MMJ CEO Duane Boise. "The DEA must choose between defending its broken system - or following the Constitution. Patients' lives depend on this decision."

The Hard Core Fact

This fight isn't about recreational marijuana. It's about whether America will allow federal agencies to block life-saving clinical research in defiance of the courts, the Constitution, and common sense.

If CatholicVote and others want to speak of dignity, the first step is simple: stand with the patients.

MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan.

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

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

F.Ramirez--AT