Arizona Tribune - Federal Marijuana Crackdown Confirms the Future: DEA's Obstruction of MMJ Science Exposed as Congress Moves to Re-Criminalize the $30 Billion THC Gray Market

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / November 10, 2025 / The chaotic, multi-billion dollar cannabis gray market created by the 2018 Farm Bill will soon be officially over. Simultaneous actions by the federal government-Congressional legislation, a unified front of 39 State Attorneys General, and local law enforcement sweeps-confirm that only fully compliant pharmaceutical grade companies will define the future of cannabis in medicine.

This regulatory convergence directly validates the decade long strategy of MMJ International Holdings, Inc., which has pursued the arduous but legal pathway of FDA approved clinical trials and DEA licensure while facing seven years of obstruction from the very agency now tasked with enforcing the crackdown.

I. The End of the Gray Market and the THC Beverage Boom

The death blow to the unregulated market is being delivered on two fronts:

1. Congressional Legislation Imposes a Hard Cap: A new appropriations bill moving through Congress seeks to redefine hemp by imposing a 0.4 mg total-THC cap and banning all synthetic or chemically modified cannabinoids. This action effectively re-criminalizes vast segments of the current market:

• Intoxicating Hemp: Products like delta-8 and delta-10 THC will be outlawed.

• THC Beverages: The low-dose THC beverage market, which often contains 5mg to 10mg of THC per serving, relies on the Farm Bill loophole. Under the new 0.4mg cap, virtually all these products would become illegal Schedule I controlled substances, collapsing the boom overnight.

2. Law Enforcement Clears the Field: In a clear signal of priorities, on November 6, 2025, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Tampa announced 14 arrests and seizures in a coordinated sting on convenience stores selling synthetic cannabinoids ("Spice"), THC gummies, and cocaine. This local action underscores the new federal mandate: The era of gas-station weed is over.

II. Bipartisan AGs Confirm MMJ's Strategy

The crackdown is supported by a bipartisan coalition of 39 Attorneys General who condemned the market's "grievously mistaken interpretation" of the Farm Bill, warning of "Frankenstein THC" and products packaged to appeal to children.

"The AGs' letter confirms what we have been saying for years: the DEA's obstruction is actively protecting bad actors and punishing legitimate American science," said Duane Boise, President & CEO of MMJ International Holdings. "The very products Congress and law enforcement are eliminating are the ones MMJ refused to make. We chose the DEA/FDA pathway; now that choice is the only legal blueprint left."

MMJ's vertically integrated model-featuring its DEA Schedule I-licensed laboratory (MMJ BioPharma Labs), FDA Orphan Drug Designations for Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, and GMP manufacturing protocols-is the lawful standard Congress and the states are now demanding.

III. The DEA's Obstruction: From Policy Failure to Cruelty

The market crisis is the direct result of a seven-year failure by the DEA to distinguish between criminals and scientists. While the unregulated market exploded, the DEA was consumed with administrative warfare against compliant entities like MMJ, including:

• Unconstitutional Courts: The Department of Justice formally conceded in September 2025 that the DEA's in-house tribunal system, the mechanism used to stall MMJ's application, violated the Constitution's separation of powers.

• Regulatory Catch-22: The DEA continues to impose an impossible demand for a "bona fide supply agreement" before issuing a manufacturing license-an agreement that is illegal to sign without the license.

"The same government that's raiding spice shops should be fast-tracking companies that follow the law, hold DEA licenses, and work under FDA oversight," Boise asserted. "The DEA's inaction has become cruelty disguised as process, denying patients with Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis access to potential therapies."

IV. A Clear Call to President Trump and Administrator Cole

The elimination of the gray market removes all excuses for continued delay. The choice for President Trump and new DEA Administrator Terry Cole is stark: champion evidence based medicine or let bureaucratic dysfunction define the administration's legacy.

MMJ International Holdings calls for decisive executive action to restore order:

1. Immediate Approval: Direct the DEA to approve MMJ BioPharma Cultivation's registration under the 60-day statutory mandate.

2. Structural Reform: Create a dedicated DEA Medical Research Division to permanently separate scientific licensing from criminal enforcement priorities.

"Federal enforcement isn't bad news for science," Boise concluded. "It's the best thing that could happen-because it clears the field for legitimate research. MMJ is the compliant model for what comes next."

About MMJ International Holdings, Inc.

MMJ International Holdings, Inc. is a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company developing DEA licensed, pharmaceutical grade, plant-based medicines for FDA approval. Its subsidiaries, MMJ BioPharma Cultivation and MMJ BioPharma Labs, advance proprietary cannabinoid soft gel formulations for the treatment of serious neurological conditions, including Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

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

A.O.Scott--AT