WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing marijuana’s reclassification as a less dangerous drug, a major shift in federal policy that would open new medical research avenues and align closer with actions already taken by dozens of states.
The change would move cannabis from its current designation as a Schedule I controlled substance, the same category as heroin and LSD, to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and certain anabolic steroids. Reclassification by the Drug Enforcement Administration would not legalize recreational marijuana use nationwide but could alter how the drug is regulated and eliminate substantial tax burdens on the cannabis industry.
Trump said he had received numerous calls supporting the move and its potential to help patients. “We have people begging for me to do this. People that are in great pain,” he said.
Forty states and Washington, D.C., now permit medical marijuana, and many states have legalized recreational use. However, U.S. federal laws have remained stricter, potentially subjecting users to federal prosecution.
The Justice Department under Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden previously proposed reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III. Unlike Biden, Trump lacks widespread encouragement from his party for the change. Some Republicans have spoken against any modifications and urged Trump to maintain existing standards.
Such reclassification typically requires an extensive process including a public comment period that has drawn tens of thousands of responses nationwide. The DEA remained in the review process when Trump assumed office in January. Trump ordered that process expedited as quickly as legally possible, though an exact timeline remained unclear.
Gallup polling shows Americans largely support a less restrictive approach: backing for marijuana legalization has grown from 36 percent in 2005 to 64 percent this year. However, that figure represents a slight decline from recent years, primarily due to decreasing Republican support, Gallup said.
Trump’s order also calls for expanded research and access to CBD, a legal and increasingly popular hemp-derived product whose benefits for treating pain, anxiety, and sleep issues remain debated among experts.
A new Medicare pilot program would allow older adults to access legal hemp-derived CBD at no cost if recommended by a physician, said Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The marijuana changes face opposition from some quarters. More than 20 Republican senators, several of them staunch Trump allies, signed a letter this year urging the president to keep marijuana classified as Schedule I.
Led by North Carolina Senator Ted Budd, the group argued that marijuana remains dangerous and that reclassification would “undermine your strong efforts to Make America Great Again.” They contended marijuana negatively affects users’ physical and mental health, as well as road and workplace safety.
“The only winners from rescheduling will be bad actors such as Communist China, while Americans will be left paying the bill,” the letter stated, referencing China’s position in the cannabis market.
In the early days of Trump’s second administration, the Justice Department showed minimal interest in discussing marijuana rescheduling, which had encountered strong resistance within the DEA under Biden, a former U.S. official said on condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation.
Trump has made his campaign against other drugs, especially fentanyl, a centerpiece of his second term, ordering U.S. military attacks on Venezuelan and other vessels the administration claims are transporting drugs. He signed another executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.
Jack Riley, a former DEA deputy administrator, supported focusing on the drug war as a national security priority but said marijuana rescheduling sends a conflicting message.
“He’s blowing up boats in Latin America that he says are full of fentanyl and cocaine but on the other hand loosening the restrictions that will allow wider exposure to a first-level drug,” said Riley, who was considered to lead the DEA upon Trump’s return to the White House. “That is clearly a contradiction.”
Opponents like the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana vowed to sue if reclassification proceeds.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, some pro-marijuana advocates want the government to go further and treat cannabis similarly to alcohol. Trump has not committed to larger steps like decriminalizing marijuana and said Thursday he encouraged his own children to avoid drugs.
Nevertheless, he said “the facts compel” the government to recognize marijuana can have legitimate medical applications. Cannabis has become integrated into the healthcare environment in many states.
Currently, 30,000 licensed healthcare practitioners are authorized to recommend marijuana for more than 6 million patients across at least 15 medical conditions, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found.
The Food and Drug Administration has identified credible scientific support for marijuana’s use treating anorexia-related medical conditions, nausea, vomiting, and pain. Older adults particularly use it for chronic pain, which afflicts one in three from that age group.
The reclassification represents a significant evolution in federal drug policy after decades where marijuana remained categorized alongside the most dangerous substances despite mounting state-level legalization and growing medical evidence of therapeutic applications. The Schedule I designation has long created tensions between federal law and state policies, leaving millions of Americans technically violating federal statutes even as they comply with state regulations.
Moving marijuana to Schedule III acknowledges scientific consensus that cannabis, while not without risks, does not belong in the same regulatory category as heroin or LSD. The reclassification reflects recognition that the drug war paradigm treating all prohibited substances equally fails to account for varying harm profiles and medical utility across different drugs.
For the cannabis industry, reclassification could eliminate Section 280E of the tax code, which prohibits businesses trafficking Schedule I or II substances from deducting ordinary business expenses. This provision has imposed effective tax rates exceeding 70 percent on marijuana businesses, creating competitive disadvantages relative to alcohol or tobacco industries and limiting capital for expansion or product safety improvements.
The expanded medical research authorization addresses a longstanding complaint from scientists that Schedule I classification made studying marijuana’s therapeutic potential nearly impossible due to regulatory barriers and limited legal supplies. Rescheduling could accelerate clinical trials examining cannabis efficacy for conditions ranging from chronic pain to PTSD to epilepsy, potentially establishing evidence-based treatment protocols.
The CBD Medicare pilot program represents federal acknowledgment of the compound’s growing popularity among older Americans seeking alternatives to opioids for pain management. By covering CBD costs for Medicare beneficiaries, the program could provide data on effectiveness and safety while addressing concerns about seniors on fixed incomes purchasing expensive products without insurance coverage.
Trump’s conflicting drug policies—aggressively prosecuting fentanyl trafficking through military strikes while liberalizing marijuana regulations—reflect tensions within Republican coalitions between law-and-order traditionalists and libertarian-leaning voters increasingly skeptical of prohibition. The 20 Republican senators opposing reclassification represent the former camp, while Trump’s action acknowledges the latter’s growing influence.
The letter’s invocation of China as a beneficiary of rescheduling appears designed to frame the issue through Trump’s preferred nationalist lens, suggesting that loosening restrictions primarily benefits foreign competitors rather than American patients or businesses. Whether this framing resonates with Trump, who has made confronting China central to his political identity, could determine how aggressively he pushes the reclassification despite GOP opposition.
Riley’s observation about contradictory messages captures a fundamental inconsistency: simultaneously escalating military operations against drug trafficking while reducing federal restrictions on marijuana creates confusion about administration priorities. Whether fentanyl and marijuana merit vastly different treatment strategies is a legitimate debate, but the whiplash between aggressive enforcement and liberalization suggests policy driven more by political calculation than coherent drug strategy.
The threatened lawsuit from Smart Approaches to Marijuana will test executive authority over drug scheduling. While the Controlled Substances Act grants the Attorney General rescheduling authority in consultation with HHS, opponents may argue the process was rushed or failed to adequately consider public health concerns, potentially delaying implementation through litigation.
As the DEA completes its review process under Trump’s expedited timeline, the reclassification represents perhaps the most significant shift in federal marijuana policy since the drug war’s inception. Whether it proves a stepping stone toward full legalization or the furthest the federal government will move remains uncertain, but the acknowledgment that current policy fails to reflect scientific evidence or state-level reality marks a turning point after decades of federal intransigence.
