As the DEA's unconstitutional house of cards collapses, its top obstructionists are fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. Judge John "McLooney" Mulrooney, the DEA's clownish Administrative Law Judge who presided over sham marijuana hearings now deemed unconstitutional, is retiring August 1. Policy chief Matthew Strait has already retired. Thomas Prevoznik, is rumored to be next. And all eyes are now on Aarathi Haig, DEA's lead counsel. Who will be the next to jump ship?
WASHINGTON, D,C. / ACCESS Newswire / July 24, 2025 / The Drug Enforcement Administration's embattled Chief Administrative Law Judge, John J. Mulrooney II, just announced his retirement-leaving behind a legacy not of justice, but of obstruction, secrecy, and constitutional violations.
This is the man who presided over the Biden administration's long-delayed cannabis rescheduling proceeding-only to halt it for six months after revelations that the DEA secretly helped anti-reform participants "fortify" their positions in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. And while Mulrooney (aka McLooney) hands in his gavel, the true victims remain the same: patients, scientists, and public trust.
A System Rigged Against Science
For over seven years, the DEA has blocked MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, a federally compliant pharmaceutical developer, from obtaining a registration to grow cannabis for FDA-approved clinical trials. This isn't a dispensary. This isn't recreational weed. This is medicine-intended to treat the devastating effects of Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis.
MMJ secured:
FDA Orphan Drug Designation
Two active INDs
A DEA-inspected, FDA-compliant facility
And still: ZERO approval.
Instead, the DEA dragged MMJ into an unconstitutional administrative process, presided over by Mulrooney, where the agency served as prosecutor, judge, and executioner-a direct violation of Supreme Court precedent (Axon v. FTC), the separation of powers, and Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
Even the Department of Justice refused to defend this system anymore. In MMJ's federal lawsuit (Case No. 1:24-cv-00127-WES-PAS), DOJ issued a formal Notice of Change in Position, conceding that the DEA's ALJ protections were unconstitutional and indefensible.
DEA's Two-Faced Cannabis Policy
Let's be clear: The DEA is sounding alarm bells about Chinese drug cartels flooding American streets with unregulated, ultra-high THC marijuana grown with toxic pesticides-while at the same time blocking regulated, pharmaceutical-grade cannabis that follows every federal guideline.
Illicit cartels? No action.
FDA-approved science? Full blockade.
This isn't just hypocrisy-it's sabotage. The DEA has created a two-tiered system:
One for criminal syndicates who operate unchecked, and
One for lawful scientists who are forced to fight the government in federal court just to do their jobs.
A Black Hole of Delay, Corruption, and Denial
Recently Mulrooney admitted that his retirement will leave the DEA without a single Administrative Law Judge to preside over any pending cannabis cases. This includes the already-paralyzed cannabis rescheduling hearing-which was frozen since January after internal misconduct allegations surfaced.
Even Mulrooney called out former DEA Administrator Anne Milgram for running a secretive selection process to hand-pick who could participate in the rescheduling hearing. It took a lawsuit to reveal that the DEA sent "cure letters" to anti-rescheduling groups-helping them meet the qualifications they had failed to meet on their own.
This is what the DEA calls "science-based policy."
The Fall of the Obstructionists: Who's Next?
As the DEA's unconstitutional house of cards collapses, so too are the architects of its obstruction fleeing the scene. Matthew Strait, the agency's former policy chief and architect of the retroactive regulatory trap that sabotaged MMJ BioPharma, has already quietly retired. Thomas Prevoznik, the embattled Deputy Assistant Administrator who rejected MMJ's corrective action plan without a shred of impartial review, is expected to retire next. The last to fall may be Aarathi Haig, DEA's lead counsel who not only defended the agency's illegal administrative law process, but doubled down in the face of Supreme Court precedent, DOJ abandonment, and widespread calls for reform. Will she jump ship before she's forced to answer for her role in a system riddled with due process violations, ethical breaches, and potential bar misconduct? The public deserves answers-and the DEA deserves a reckoning.
The Cole Reckoning: Time to Clean House
Now that Terrance Cole has been confirmed as DEA Administrator, the pressure is squarely on his shoulders. Cole must:
Dismantle the DEA's unconstitutional administrative court system
Immediately approve MMJ BioPharma's registration to grow
Remove or reassign remaining obstructionist officials like Thomas Prevoznik and Aarathi Haig
Restore scientific integrity to cannabis scheduling and research policy
This isn't a policy debate anymore. This is a civil rights crisis. Patients with Huntington's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis are not pawns in the DEA's turf war-they are human beings who deserve access to real medicine.
Science Must Win. The Law Must Matter.
The American public sees the absurdity: China-linked cartels grow and distribute dangerous marijuana unchecked, while the DEA blocks the very researchers trying to solve the problem through federally approved science.
If Terry Cole fails to act, the DEA will continue to spiral into irrelevance-a rogue agency upholding prohibition-era dogma, trampling the Constitution, and betraying its public health mission.
Patients deserve better. America deserves better.
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