The official named to run the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as acting administrator subscribes to the “gateway drug” theory for marijuana and believes most people living in states that have legalized cannabis will continue to obtain it from illicit sources such as cartels due to high taxes in regulated markets.
As the Trump administration takes shape, marijuana reform advocates and stakeholders are getting to learn more about the newly announced acting administrator, Derek Maltz. And so far, a review of his record has done little to assure the cannabis community that he would serve as an ally in the push for reform at DEA.
Maltz, who retired from the agency in 2014 after 28 years of service, has made a series of sensational comments about cannabis—at one point linking marijuana use to school shootings, for example. But he evidently also holds a more common prohibitionist position: He thinks cannabis is a gateway to harder drugs, despite numerous studies contradicting that theory.
“Marijuana is not the marijuana from the 70s or the 80s or the 90s. This is higher, pure-THC marijuana,” he said during an interview with NTD at a Turning Point USA event last year. “I’ve talked to doctors about this. It’s actually causing psychosis, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety—so it’s really a gateway drug for these kids that don’t know any better.”
“The mental illness—the depression and anxiety—is off the charts in America. So these kids are turning to drugs for help,” Maltz said. “So they start out with a little marijuana, then they take what they think is [Oxycontin] or Xanax or Percocet. It turns out to be fake pills from Mexico, and they’re dying.”
In a separate interview with NTD that aired in 2022, the official was asked about issues related to illicit drug trafficking and potential policy solutions. For example, he was asked to weigh in on the argument that state-regulated marijuana markets could mitigate illegal sales.
“Totally disagree, because the cartels are going to use the black market, which they’re already doing throughout America,” Maltz said. “People aren’t going to pay for marijuana, as an example, with these high taxes in these states [that have legalized]. They’re going to get it from the cartels, and that’s just reality.”
While state-level legalization hasn’t entirely eradicated the illicit marketplace, multiple studies—and DEA itself in a 2020 report—have shown that providing regulated access to marijuana does, in fact, reduce instances of illegal interstate trafficking.
Asked whether he generally supports criminalizing people over drug use, Maltz said “we have to prioritize right now” and “we have to go after the people, primarily, who are killing our citizens at record levels.”
“The drug users, obviously, they have an addiction, and they need help,” he said, adding that “the illicit drug supply is tainted, the education is horrible right now, and I just wish we’d get more aggressive education.”
With President Donald Trump still having yet to name his choice to run DEA as administrator on a more permanent basis, it’s unclear if Maltz is positioned to receive that nomination or if he will ultimately be replaced.
Maltz has been particularly critical of the current marijuana rescheduling effort, claiming that the Justice Department “hijacked” the process from DEA when it advanced a recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
Historically it has been the DEA administrator to sign off on drug scheduling moves, but in this case the cannabis proposed rule was signed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“It sure seems to me that DOJ has prioritized politics and votes over public health and safety!” he said last May.
Whoever ultimately assumes the top DEA position will be inheriting the years-long rulemaking process to reschedule marijuana initiated under the Biden administration, so advocates and stakeholders are closely following to see who might fill that role.
The announcement that Maltz will be serving as acting administrator comes as another former agency official, Jack Riley, says he’s being courted to potentially lead DEA under the newly inaugurated Trump administration. Riley has previously described marijuana as a “gateway drug.”
For now, administrative hearings on the rescheduling proposal that were scheduled to begin on Tuesday have been delayed, with an agency judge recently granting an appeal motion from pro-reform witnesses that will set the clock back at least three months amid allegations of improper communications between DEA and rescheduling opponents and more.
Trump initially chose Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead DEA, but the prospective nominee—who strongly advocated for marijuana decriminalization—withdrew from consideration last month amid scrutiny from conservative lawmakers over the sheriff’s record on COVID-related public safety enforcement actions.
Meanwhile, Trump’s choice for U.S. attorney general, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), is declining to say how she plans to navigate key marijuana policy issues—including the ongoing rescheduling process and renewing federal enforcement guidance—if she’s ultimately confirmed.
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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
The official named to run the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as acting administrator subscribes to the “gateway drug” theory for marijuana and believes most people living in states that have legalized cannabis will continue to obtain it from illicit sources such as cartels due to high taxes in regulated markets. As the Trump administration takes Read More
