The Stakes Couldn't Be Higher
This is more than a marijuana case. It's a constitutional case. It's a test of whether the DEA is still accountable to the courts, to the people, and to the law.
"If the DEA believes it can ignore the Supreme Court, then no American is safe from administrative tyranny," Duane Boise warned. " MMJ will fight. And we will win."
WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / June 24, 2025 / The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has doubled down on an administrative law judge (ALJ) system the Supreme Court has already deemed unconstitutional and which the Department of Justice (DOJ) itself now refuses to defend. At the center of this constitutional implosion is MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, a federally compliant pharmaceutical cannabis company fighting a multi front legal war against regulatory sabotage.
Despite having earned FDA orphan drug designation and submitting multiple Investigational New Drug (IND) applications, MMJ has spent over 2,380 days awaiting DEA registration to Cultivate Schedule I pharmaceutical grade marijuana for use in clinical trials targeting Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington's Disease.
Instead of progress, MMJ faces a DEA rogue tribunal and a broken justice mechanism that the Supreme Court and now the DOJ have all declared illegitimate.
A System Already Declared Unconstitutional
In Axon Enterprise v. FTC (598 U.S. 175, 2023), the U.S. Supreme Court held that parties could bypass agency run tribunals and challenge their constitutionality in federal court. In SEC v. Jarkesy (2024), the Court went further, ruling that agency run Administrative Law Judge proceedings violate the Seventh Amendment's jury trial right, the nondelegation doctrine, and Article II's executive removal structure.
The legal writing is on the wall: these kangaroo courts must go.
The Department of Justice agrees.
DOJ Abandons Defense of DEA's ALJ System
In a historic filing on February 27, 2025, the DOJ notified the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island that it would no longer defend the DEA's ALJ system in MMJ BioPharma v. Bondi ([ECF 22](Case 1:24-cv-00127-WES-PAS)). Acting Solicitor General Sara Miron Bloom admitted the ALJ structure violates Article II's separation of powers. Citing Axon and Jarkesy, DOJ conceded that 5 U.S.C. § 7521 is unconstitutional and that DEA's internal judicial regime is legally indefensible.
Yet the DEA marches on in open defiance of the very government it is supposed to serve.
Mulrooney's Lawless Ruling
On June 16, 2025, DEA Chief ALJ John J. Mulrooney II-still clinging to a discredited position-issued a recommended denial of MMJ's bulk manufacturing application. No evidentiary hearing. No cross-examination. No valid record.
And no authority.
"This is bureaucratic mutiny," said MMJ's CEO Duane Boise. "The DOJ admits the system is illegal, yet the DEA keeps using it to punish medical marijuana research."
MMJ Fights Back on Two Fronts
Constitutional Lawsuit (DC Appeals Court)
MMJ's case against Attorney General Pam Bondi challenges the DEA's ALJ system outright. With DOJ's concession now on record, federal judges are poised to strike down the system altogether.DEA Administrative Appeal
On June 23, MMJ filed a Notice of Intent to File Exceptions (Docket No. 24-13) along with a motion requesting a 10-day extension. The basis? The complexity of the case and the suspicious holiday weekend deadline set by the DEA to limit MMJ's ability to respond.
"They're saying, 'Prove you drowned after we pushed you in the ocean,'" said MMJ CEO Duane Boise.
The Gaslighting and Hypocrisy Run Deep
Unlicensed Prosecutors: Lead DEA litigator Aarathi Haig is not licensed in New Jersey, violating federal ethics law (28 U.S.C. § 530B).
No Harm Argument: DOJ insists MMJ hasn't been harmed-while the DEA blocks it from trials, patients, and economic operations.
Shadow Justice: Mulrooney issued rulings from a court the DOJ abandoned-without any viable constitutional foundation.
"The DEA is a constitutional dead man walking," Boise declared. "Every day it uses this system, it digs its own grave deeper."
The Endgame: DEA's Administrative Empire Is Crumbling
Three outcomes are now in motion:
DEA ALJ System Will Be Dismantled: The DOJ won't defend it. SCOTUS already struck it down. Courts are next.
MMJ Will Prevail: The company is expected to succeed either administratively or judicially.
Congress Must Act: The DEA's shadow courts must be abolished. Cannabis oversight must shift to agencies like the FDA, where science-not sabotage-governs.
Justice Delayed Will No Longer Be Justice Denied
What began as a regulatory delay has become a constitutional crisis. The DEA has been caught running a rogue system, misusing authority, and subverting scientific advancement.
Now, the walls are closing in on Deputy Administrator Thomas Prevoznik, Matthew Strait, and Aarathi Haig.
MMJ is represented by attorney Megan Sheehan.
CONTACT:
Madison Hisey
MHisey@mmjih.com
203-231-8583
SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/healthcare-and-pharmaceutical/deas-last-marijuana-gamble-unconstitutional-alj-system-collapses-as-m-1042222
