Arizona Tribune - After Trump's Marijuana Executive Order, Will the DEA Face a Court Imposed Deadline from MMJ's Writ of Mandamus?

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / December 20, 2025 / President Donald J. Trump's recent Executive Order on marijuana research and rescheduling has fundamentally changed the federal cannabis landscape. The policy direction is now explicit: marijuana has accepted medical use, federal obstruction of research has harmed patients, and agencies must act expeditiously to correct decades of delay.

What remains uncertain is whether the Drug Enforcement Administration will comply voluntarily-or whether the courts will be required to intervene.

Newly confirmed DEA Administrator Terrance Cole now faces a defining first test of leadership: Will he break from the DEA's long history of obstructing medical cannabis research, or will he continue a pattern of delay that now directly conflicts with Presidential policy, federal law, and scientific consensus?

At the center of this moment is MMJ International Holdings, MMJ BioPharma Labs and MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, a federally compliant pharmaceutical developer that has spent more than seven years seeking DEA approval to cultivate pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for FDA-authorized clinical trials targeting Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

Despite holding FDA Orphan Drug Designations, passing multiple DEA inspections, being awarded a DEA Schedule 1 analytical lab registration and developing GMP-manufactured cannabinoid soft-gel capsules, MMJ remains stalled without a final agency decision-approval or denial-after more than 2,300 days.

The Executive Order Ends the Era of Excuses

President Trump's Executive Order leaves little ambiguity. It formally recognizes marijuana's accepted medical use, acknowledges that federal policy has failed patients by impeding research, and directs the Attorney General to complete rescheduling to Schedule III as quickly as federal law allows.

Against this backdrop, continued DEA inaction is no longer a policy disagreement-it is a legal and institutional contradiction.

"This is where the rubber meets the road," said Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ International Holdings. "The President has spoken. HHS and FDA have spoken. Congress has spoken. At this point, delay itself is the harm."

A Case Study in Regulatory Failure

MMJ's application has become a flashpoint for deeper structural problems inside the DEA:

• Unconstitutional Process - MMJ was subjected to an in-house administrative tribunal system later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Axon v. FTC and Jarkesy v. SEC.

• Retroactive Rulemaking - The DEA imposed new "bona fide supply agreement" requirements years after MMJ applied in 2018.

• Statutory Violations - More than seven years have elapsed without resolution, far exceeding the 60-day decision timeline mandated by Congress under the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act.

While agencies debate, patients with devastating neurological diseases continue to wait for investigational therapies-not because of safety concerns, but because of bureaucratic paralysis.

Mandamus Is Now Inevitable

In light of the Executive Order and the DEA's continued failure to act, MMJ is preparing to file a writ of mandamus in federal court to compel the agency to issue a final decision on its long-pending application.

Mandamus is not a demand for approval. It is a demand for action.

If Administrator Cole denies the application, MMJ will challenge the decision on its merits. If the DEA continues to delay, MMJ will ask the courts to enforce the law.

Either way, the era of indefinite silence is ending.

Explaining a Writ of Mandamus

A writ of mandamus is a court order compelling a federal agency to perform a legally required duty it has unreasonably delayed or refused to carry out. In this case, MMJ is not asking a court to force the DEA to approve its application-only to force the agency to issue a final decision. Federal law and Supreme Court precedent require agencies to act within a "reasonable time." After more than seven years, multiple inspections, Congressional mandates, and now a Presidential Executive Order, legal experts say continued DEA inaction presents a classic mandamus scenario.

Cole's Decision Will Define His Tenure

Administrator Cole now faces a clear choice:

• Reform - Align the DEA with Presidential policy, scientific consensus, and federal law by allowing FDA-regulated cannabis research to proceed.

• Regression - Deny or further delay MMJ's application, triggering immediate federal litigation that could result in binding precedent limiting DEA authority nationwide.

"This decision will define whether the DEA finally turns the page on a failed marijuana policy," Boise said. "Or whether the courts will be forced to do it for them."

About MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, Inc.

MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, Inc., a subsidiary of MMJ International Holdings, is advancing FDA-compliant, pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid medicines. The company holds FDA Orphan Drug Designations for Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis and has developed GMP-manufactured THC and CBD soft-gel capsule formulations. MMJ is committed to science, patient care, and full federal compliance in pioneering cannabinoid-based therapies.

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

E.Rodriguez--AT