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DEA Administrator Terrance Cole's October 2026 decision raises fundamental questions about state marijuana licenses, federal diversion laws, and whether cannabis companies can satisfy the Controlled Substances Act's manufacturing requirements.
Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings noted Matthew Strait's public warning raises serious questions about whether state medical marijuana operators will receive DEA federal registrations before litigation challenging the government's marijuana rescheduling order is resolved.
Government Accountability Office Exposes Deficiencies in DEA and FDA Marijuana Rescheduling Procedures Behind Department of Health Human Services Recommendation; Judge Halts Broader Marijuana Rescheduling
Leading Cannabis Law Firm Harris Sliwoski attorney says operators should proceed "very carefully" and warns agreements may have to stop immediately if the federal rescheduling order is overturned.
"State marijuana operators sought a seat at the table as full parties defending the Schedule III order, but the court denied intervention. They may submit amicus arguments, but they will not control the litigation-and the legality of the government's order remains undecided." - Duane Boise, President, MMJ International Holdings.
D.C. Circuit rejects intervention by two commercial beneficiaries of marijuana rescheduling while MMJ's challenge to the order's legality proceeds
"The federal appeals court left the limited Schedule III order in effect while MMJ's challenge proceeds, but the stay denial did not uphold the order's legality or decide the separate DEA proceeding considering broader marijuana rescheduling." - Duane Boise, President, MMJ International Holdings
As the D.C. Circuit prepares to decide whether the Justice Department lawfully moved state marijuana into DEA Schedule 3, experts warn that billions in anticipated tax benefits could unravel.
The federal governments policy contradiction is unavoidable:
The federal government is conferring the legitimacy and financial benefits of Schedule III medicine on state-licensed operators while three of the industry's largest companies defend allegations that they used an orchestrated medical narrative to lure recreational consumers into buying their products.
Motions to dismiss remain pending.
"DEA's New Questionnaire Exposes a Federal Marijuana System Built on State Rules, Special Exceptions and Questions No One Can Answer Cleanly", stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
Before dismissing the case on standing, Judge McFadden warned the government from the bench that the outcome "is not going to go well for the government on remand" if he got the threshold question wrong. That appeal is now scheduled.
The corrected official transcripts are now public. FDA's supervising scientist named who directed the change in standard: the Assistant Secretary for Health - the same office that produced the government's headline evidence and never sent a witness.
A perfect storm for the cannabis industry? Cresco Labs, Green Thumb Industries, Curaleaf and Verano face sweeping class-action and RICO allegations.
Cresco Labs, Green Thumb Industries, Curaleaf and Verano face Class action lawsuit and RICO claims in Case No. 3:26-cv-50184-as Palomar Insurance seeks to deny coverage in Case Nos. 1:26-cv-09856 and 1:26-cv-09838. The Connecticut Curaleaf class action is Duke et al. v. Curaleaf Holdings Inc. et al., Case No. 3:26-cv-00684, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Docket
DEA attorneys told the marijuana rescheduling ALJ judge to give the other side's experts "little to no weight." It never told him what its own DEA and FDA two scientists said under oath.
As Judge Derek Julius prepares his recommendation and Dr. Heidi Overton awaits Senate confirmation, the federal government's own findings expose the contradiction between the AG's rescheduling order, state acceptance and pharmaceutical science.
Michigan, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada and New York reveal unreliable laboratory results, falsified testing data, contaminated products, false tracking records and unregulated marijuana entering licensed commerce
"Why would the Attorney General write an order relying upon state diversion controls when DEA and HIDTA intelligence appear to document repeated failures in those same markets?" Duane Boise CEO of MMJ International Holdings asked.
Part One examines Oklahoma, California, Oregon, Colorado and Washington-and asks whether High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) intelligence reports contradicted the factual premise of the Attorney General's rescheduling order.
"Now that the final post-hearing briefs have been submitted, one thing is clear: whichever schedule the administrative law judge recommends-Schedule I, II or III-the federal government may have created a record it will struggle to explain. Its own witnesses have exposed fundamental conflicts over accepted medical use, reproducible chemistry, safety and efficacy. The government can choose its policy, but it cannot erase the sworn record it created."
- Duane Boise, CEO, MMJ International Holdings
A CNBC report published August 15 describes cannabis policy as an emerging issue in the 2026 midterm elections. Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings says "says implementation does not equal legal finality as courts review the administration's marijuana rescheduling order and CMS cannabinoid initiative."
The FBI released 64 pages and withheld 147 more, most of them protected under grand jury secrecy rules. The records were provided to The Newsground by researcher Joe Lloyd, who filed the FOIA request for FBI materials mentioning Curaleaf.
With post hearing briefs due August 17 and Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius expected to issue a recommendation thereafter, Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings says "the most important question may no longer be whether marijuana reaches Schedule III-but whether the evidentiary record actually supports the government's state licensed marijuana pathway."
However his Agency Created a Medicare Program That Does Not Require It. MMJ Has Spent More Than $10 Million Pursuing FDA Approval, CMS Is Defending a Federal Program Allowing Medicare Beneficiaries to Receive Up to $500 Annually per patient in Non-FDA-Approved Cannabinoid Products," stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"As cannabis companies pursue anticipated tax savings, expedited DEA registrations and new financing opportunities under Schedule III, multiple federal proceedings involving MMJ International Holdings are testing whether the government followed the law" stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"The D.C. Circuit's decision could reshape federal marijuana policy, administrative law, and the future of FDA regulated cannabis medicines for years to come" stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"You only quarantine a ALJ marijuana rescheduling hearing from your own decision if you're afraid of what the DEA scientist will say. It took six days to find out the DEA was right to be afraid." stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"The government cannot tell pharmaceutical companies to follow the rules for eight years, then reward everyone who didn't. That's not reform-it's arbitrary government." - Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"The biggest story wasn't what witnesses said at DEA's hearing-it was what DEA refused to let the American public hear." - Duane Boise, President & CEO, MMJ International Holdings
"The Justice Department says the parties challenging marijuana rescheduling are protecting their revenue and have "pocketbook interest". The numbers on the other side of the docket tell a different story-one measured in billions, not thousands said Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"Dr. Kenneth Finn, former President of the American Board of Pain Medicine, testified that today's state 'medical marijuana' system is a 'ruse'-one where the clinical evidence is lacking and standards are missing, as he reminisced of the old pill mills" stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"Government's Own Scientific Expert Testified Marijuana Failed DEA's Traditional Medical Use Standard, Lacked Reproducible Chemistry, and That HHS Omitted Critical Public Health Findings" stated Duane Boise CEO MMJ International Holdings.
"DEA's own pharmacologist testified under oath that marijuana is not consistently reproducible, that state marijuana programs are a primary source of diversion, and that DEA's scientific review addressed critical issues omitted from the HHS analysis. Those are not MMJ's conclusions-they came from the DEA's own scientific expert." stated Duane Boise, CEO, MMJ International Holdings.
DOJ Says the Controlled Substances Act Protects Legitimate Scientific Research. MMJ Says the Government Should Start Treating It That Way.
"The government cannot tell companies to spend years following the FDA's scientific pathway, then dismiss those same efforts as a 'pocketbook interest' when they seek equal treatment under the law. We didn't build a market-we built a medicine." stated Duane Boise, President & CEO, MMJ International Holdings
"This isn't about opposing legitimate business success. It's about asking whether companies that chose the state marijuana pathway should receive federal advantages while MMJ companies spent years and millions of dollars complying with the FDA and DEA pathway are still waiting for equal treatment under the law."
- Duane Boise, CEO MMJ International Holdings.
Why Marijuana as a Medicine Matters - And Why "Medicine" Has to Mean Something
