The DEA’s Regulatory Cannabis Shell Game: Why Clear Rules Are the Enemy of Bureaucratic Power

Recent developments under Trump’s Executive Order 14192 have exposed this shell game for what it is. The Department of Justice just axed several key DEA rules that have been perpetually “in process,” including the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion rule that researchers have been waiting for since 2018. Suddenly, all those excuses about “waiting for new regulations” have evaporated into thin air.