"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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / July 7, 2026 / On day six of the Drug Enforcement Administration's marijuana rescheduling hearing, the agency's own scientist delivered testimony that cuts against the very rule the hearing is meant to advance. Dr. Luli Akinfiresoye - a pharmacologist in the DEA's Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section who holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Howard University, and who authored the DEA's 2024 Scientific Data Review of marijuana - testified that marijuana does not satisfy the DEA's longstanding scientific standard for "currently accepted medical use."

Dr. Akinfiresoye was subpoenaed by Smart Approaches to Marijuana after the DEA resisted her appearance and issued a letter limiting the scope of her testimony. She testified nonetheless - and the record she left behind is one the government cannot easily walk back, because it is the DEA's own scientist describing the DEA's own analysis, sworn to under oath as Exhibit 7.

"When the DEA's own pharmacologist testifies that marijuana fails the agency's traditional scientific standard for accepted medical use, policymakers and courts should examine very carefully the basis for any different conclusion," said Duane Boise, CEO of MMJ International Holdings.

Two Tests, One Telling Choice

The heart of the testimony was a choice of standard. HHS recommended Schedule III using a new, narrower two part test. The DEA, Dr. Akinfiresoye testified, DEA applied its traditional five-factor test instead - and she explained why: the five-factor framework was more comprehensive, and the HHS analysis "lacked any chemistry." Her stated objective, in her own words, was to fill that gaps in the HHS report for the DEA.

Under questioning, she confirmed that the DEA chief legal counsel's opinion letter advised the two-part test, however, she and her DEA colleagues adopted the traditional 5 part test because it made the most scientific sense. She also testified that her signature is on the sworn official document swearing to that position. The DEA lodged roughly eight objections during her testimony. The Chief Administrative Law Judge overruled every one.

Under the DEA's five-factor test, a substance with accepted medical use must show:

• Known and reproducible chemistry;

• Adequate safety studies;

• Adequate and well-controlled studies demonstrating efficacy;

• Acceptance by qualified experts; and

• Widely available scientific evidence.

"Not a Drug" - Because It Is Not Reproducible

Directed to factor three, Dr. Akinfiresoye testified that marijuana fails the chemistry requirement because it is "not consistently reproducible" in the manner expected of a pharmaceutical drug product. Asked whether she had gone out of her way to find negative studies, she said no. On the record, she stated plainly that marijuana did not pass - because, as a variable botanical, it is not a drug in the pharmaceutical sense.

That is the entire premise of MMJ's work. Consistent chemistry - the same identity, strength, quality, purity, and performance from batch to batch - is the foundation of FDA regulated drug development. It is precisely what MMJ manufactured and proved to reach FDA accepted IND status. The DEA's scientist has now testified, under oath, that raw marijuana cannot meet the standard MMJ already meets.

State Programs as a Primary Source of Diversion

The testimony did not stop at chemistry. Dr. Akinfiresoye testified that her report identified state marijuana programs as a primary source of diversion - including theft from dispensaries, purchases under a medical marijuana license that are then redirected to teenagers within households, and licensed buyers moving product across state lines. She testified that this appears at page 15 of her report, and that the HHS analysis omitted it entirely.

She further testified to a heavy overlap between medical and recreational use - stating that a large majority of purported "medical" users are, in her assessment, using recreationally, which is where much of the abuse occurs - and that dispensary staff are not medical providers and should not be giving medical advice. She addressed drug interactions and patient-safety concerns candidly, calling the current situation, in substance, harmful.

A Scientific Divide the Rescheduling Rule Papers Over

The testimony exposed a genuine scientific divide inside the federal government. HHS reached Schedule III under one framework; the DEA's own review, applying the agency's traditional standard, reached the opposite conclusion on accepted medical use - and found that HHS had left out chemistry and omitted diversion findings the DEA considered essential. That divide is not a technicality. It is the difference between a conclusion built on the full scientific record and one built on a narrower test selected, critics contend, to reach a predetermined result.

Why It Matters

This hearing is about more than marijuana. It is about the scientific standard a substance must meet before the federal government calls it medicine. On that question, the DEA's own pharmacologist and MMJ International Holdings agree: reproducible chemistry, manufacturing controls, demonstrated safety and efficacy, and regulatory oversight are not optional. They are the definition of medicine.

"There is an important distinction between recognizing that cannabinoids may have therapeutic potential and concluding that a variable plant satisfies the scientific standards of accepted medical use," Boise said. "The DEA's own scientist just drew that line under oath. MMJ has spent eight years on the right side of it - proving reproducible, contaminant-free, final-dosage-form medicine through the FDA pathway. Patients deserve medicine supported by rigorous science, not products waved through by a lesser test."

About MMJ International Holdings

MMJ International Holdings, Inc. is a pharmaceutical development company focused on cannabinoid-based medicines for Huntington's disease and Multiple Sclerosis. MMJ maintains FDA Investigational New Drug applications, FDA Orphan Drug Designation, a DEA Schedule I analytical laboratory registration, a finished soft gel capsule product, and ongoing cannabinoid pharmaceutical development programs pursuing the federal FDA botanical drug pathway.

CONTACT:
Madison Hisey
MHisey@mmjih.com
203-231-8583

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings