"The DEA is creating a regulatory paradox where science is stifled and illegal activity is tolerated. Thomas Prevoznik, one unelected bureaucrat should not have the power to derail federally authorized drug development," said Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ International Holdings.
WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / May 18, 2025 / As the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) releases its 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, a stunning contradiction emerges: while the DEA points fingers at states that have legalized marijuana for allegedly aiding transnational cartels, it continues to obstruct MMJ International Holdings and its subsidiaries - MMJBioPharma Cultivation and MMJ BioPharma Labs from lawfully developing cannabis based pharmaceutical drugs under full federal compliance.
For seven years, MMJ BioPharma has adhered strictly to federal statutes. It has received two Investigational New Drug (IND) applications from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and been awarded Orphan Drug Designation for its treatment of Huntington's disease. It has passed DEA security inspections and holds a DEA Schedule I Analytical Lab Registration. Yet, the DEA refuses to grant the necessary Schedule I Bulk Manufacturing Registration required for growing pharmaceutical grade cannabis for clinical trials, stonewalling innovation and delaying potential life-saving treatments.
Meanwhile, in its own report, the DEA claims that legal cannabis states are being exploited by Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations (TSOs), which operate under "state-level business registrations" and ignore plant limits, production quotas, and licensing laws. The report claims these groups exploit inconsistencies in state regulations to shield illicit operations from federal enforcement.
Yet ironically, the DEA's continued blockade against legitimate federal drug developers like MMJ BioPharma is pushing innovation and pharmaceutical investment offshore. MMJ has openly criticized the agency's delays as "a violation of law, science, and democracy."
DEA Federal Hypocrisy on Full Display
DEA Acting Administrator Derek Maltz, who has called cannabis a "gateway drug," maintains the agency's hardline stance against MMJ's drug development despite its legal compliance and scientific rigor. Meanwhile, the agency paradoxically admits that the marijuana smuggled across state lines is primarily destined for non-legal states-a tacit admission that prohibition itself sustains the illicit market.
This undermines the DEA's narrative that legal states are the core problem. Instead, the report validates what advocates have long argued: that prohibition breeds black-market activity, while federal obstruction stalls medical progress.