WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / September 15, 2025 / In a decisive move to unwind Biden era regulatory gridlock, President Donald J. Trump's Department of Justice has withdrawn 16 pending rule makings and 38 projected rules - including the Drug Enforcement Administration's most critical marijuana related initiatives. The action strips away the DEA's last procedural excuses for blocking legitimate medical cannabis research.
For MMJ International Holdings and its subsidiaries MMJ BioPharma Cultivation and MMJ BioPharma Labs, the implications are immediate: DEA Administrator Terrance "Terry" Cole now faces a clear choice - approve compliant applications or continue a blockade that the Supreme Court has already branded unconstitutional.
DEA's Cover Story Just Collapsed
For years, DEA officials told courts, Congress, and companies that marijuana research and cultivation rules were "in process." Those proposals - RINs 1117-AB83, 1117-AB50, 1117-AB77, and 1117-AB86 - served as a shield to justify seven years of inaction. With Trump's Executive Order 14192 ("Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation"), those rules are gone.
"This DOJ notice proves what we've said for years: the DEA kept MMJ and other companies in limbo by pointing to phantom rulemakings. Those rules will be withdrawn. There are no more excuses," said Duane Boise, President & CEO of MMJ BioPharma. "Administrator Terry Cole can approve our registration today under the Controlled Substances Act and let science move forward. The longer he waits, the more patients suffer."
The Stakes: Patients, Law, and Science
MMJ BioPharma applied in 2018 to become a DEA registered bulk manufacturer of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for FDA authorized clinical trials in Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis. The company has secured two FDA Orphan Drug Designations, built a DEA-specification facility, and passed inspections - yet remains in regulatory limbo.
The withdrawal of RIN 1117-AB50 (DEA Hearing Regulations) underscores a deeper problem: DEA's tribunal system has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Axon v. FTC and Jarkesy v. SEC. With AB50 off the agenda, DEA cannot claim imminent reform of its in-house courts, leaving the status quo both un-reformed and constitutionally defective.
Trump's Playbook: Patients Over Bureaucrats
By eliminating Biden's stalled rulemakings, Trump positions himself as the reformer who cut through the bureaucratic chokehold. Advocates expect the White House to soon advance a major cannabis policy package that could:
Codify medical marijuana research protections.
Push DEA to act on existing applications like MMJ's.
Clarify the role of FDA-approved cannabis medicines in U.S. healthcare.
"President Trump and Administrator Terry Cole don't have to choose between marijuana chaos and prohibition," Boise added. "The real choice is between Big Weed and FDA-regulated cannabis medicine. MMJ has already built the science, manufactured the capsule, and is prepared for clinical trials. All we're asking is for the DEA to finally follow its own law."
Moving Forward
With the rule making cover gone, all eyes are on Administrator Terry Cole. Will he honor Trump's deregulatory order and approve medical cannabis research - or cling to a system already judged unconstitutional? For the thousands of patients awaiting new therapies, the clock is ticking
MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan.
CONTACT:
Madison Hisey
MHisey@mmjih.com
203-231-85832
SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings
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