Arizona Tribune - EX DEA Administrator Anne Milgram's "Swampy" Legacy: No-Bid Contracts, No Marijuana Reform, and No Accountability

WASHINGTON, DC, AL / ACCESS Newswire / October 9, 2025 / Former DEA Administrator Anne Milgram left behind a cloud of controversy, unanswered questions, and a legacy of paralysis on medical marijuana policy. As new details emerge about the potential Justice Department Inspector General's investigation into her administration's no-bid contracts to friends and former colleagues, one thing is unmistakably clear: under Milgram's leadership, the DEA squandered historic opportunities to modernize its outdated approach to medical cannabis.

EX DEA ADMINISTRATOR ANNE MILGRAM

A Culture of Cronyism, Not Reform

According to federal records and congressional testimony, the OIG probe examined millions in DEA contracts Milgram awarded without competition - including $4.7 million for "strategic planning" to personal associates, $1.4 million to WilmerHale for a politically connected "review," and nearly $400,000 to a New Jersey ally hired within weeks of her confirmation.

These revelations came as the agency was failing its most critical mandate: responding to the nation's demand for medical cannabis research and reform.

"While DEA insiders cashed in on sweetheart contracts, patients were left suffering," said Duane Boise, President & CEO of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, a pharmaceutical company still waiting - after seven years - for DEA approval to grow cannabis for FDA clinical trials. "Milgram's DEA spent more time rewarding friends than fulfilling its legal duty to advance medical science. It was a monument to incompetence and indifference."

A Legacy of Delay and Denial

Under Milgram, the DEA refused to act on multiple applications to manufacture cannabis for research - including MMJ BioPharma's 2018 petition to produce pharmaceutical-grade marijuana for FDA approved trials in Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

Despite MMJ's FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) clearances and Orphan Drug Designations, Milgram's office imposed retroactive requirements, delayed reviews for years, and ignored congressional oversight requests.

Meanwhile, DEA lawyers defended unconstitutional tribunal proceedings against companies like MMJ - proceedings that the Supreme Court later struck down in Axon v. FTC and Jarkesy v. SEC as violations of separation-of-powers protections.

"Milgram's inaction wasn't just bureaucratic - it was immoral," Boise continued. "Every day of delay meant another day patients with Huntington's and MS went without treatment. She should have been fighting cartels, not crushing clinical research."

Scandal Overshadowed Mission

As the DEA stumbled through its "swampy" internal turmoil, the agency's public mission eroded. Milgram's contracting scandal drew bipartisan condemnation - with Representative Mike Garcia (R-CA) calling her performance "flagrant and offensive" - and Senator Chuck Grassley demanding explanations for "credible allegations" of favoritism and waste.

Milgram deflected, saying she would not "step in front of the inspector general." Two years later, the OIG has still released no final report, leaving questions of accountability unanswered.

A Hopeful Future Under Administrator Terry Cole

Milgram departed quietly in January 2025, leaving behind an agency paralyzed by mismanagement and distrust. The arrival of Administrator Terrance "Terry" Cole offers what many see as a rare chance for real reform.

Cole, a former law enforcement executive with a reputation for integrity, now faces a defining choice:
Will he perpetuate the DEA's culture of secrecy and obstruction - or restore public trust by embracing transparency, science, and legitimate medical research?

"Terry Cole has a chance to do what Anne Milgram never did - lead," said Boise. "He can reopen the door to science, follow the law, and finally let the DEA work for patients instead of against them."

The Road Ahead

For MMJ BioPharma Cultivation and the millions of patients awaiting cannabinoid-based medicines, hope now rests on whether the DEA's new leadership will dismantle the bureaucratic barriers Milgram left behind.

Milgram's tenure will be remembered for no-bid contracts, no marijuana reform, and no accountability - but perhaps, under Administrator Cole, that story can finally change.

MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan

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

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings

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