"For too long, these DEA officials, Thomas Prevoznik, Matthew Strait and Aarathi Haig have operated with impunity while denying patients access to critical medicines," said Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation.
WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / April 22, 2025 / President Donald Trump takes steps to reimplement Schedule F, a controversial federal workforce policy designed to reclassify civil servants as at-will employees.Several high-profile officials within the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could be among those at risk of termination.
Among those under scrutiny Thomas Prevoznik, DEA Deputy Administrator; Matthew Strait, DEA Deputy Administrator for Policy and Aarathi Haig, a DEA attorney reportedly under investigation for ethics violations.
Trump's newly published executive order aims to reclassify approximately 50,000 federal workers, stripping them of long-standing civil service protections and allowing leadership to swiftly remove employees who are viewed as obstructing the administration's policy agenda.
"If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be 'run like a business.'"
The implications are significant for DEA officials accused of blocking lawful cannabis research efforts. Over the last seven years, Prevoznik, Strait, and Haig have been central figures in the ongoing controversy surrounding MMJ BioPharma Cultivation's delayed registration application. Despite full compliance with FDA requirements and congressional mandates under the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, the DEA has failed to act on MMJ's application - now more than 2,300 days overdue.
Critics have labeled the delay a "deliberate obstruction" and pointed to the collapse of nearly all other DEA marijuana registrants as further evidence of systemic failure.
With Schedule F returning to the federal workforce landscape, insiders say political appointees may finally have the authority to remove entrenched bureaucrats who have failed to implement presidential and congressional directives.
"When Schedule F is enforced, it could finally bring accountability to agencies like the DEA," said Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation. "For too long, these officials have operated with impunity while denying patients access to critical medicines."
Whether the new administration will follow through with mass terminations remains to be seen, but MMJ and other stakeholders are hopeful that Schedule F will end what they call the "deep state marijuana stonewalling"of legitimate pharmaceutical cannabis research.
MMJ is represented by Attorney Megan Sheehan of Rhode Island.
CONTACT:
Madison Hisey
mhisey@mmjih.com
203-231-8583
SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings
