Trump administration reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as less dangerous drug
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order Thursday to reclassify state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
The order shifts the designation of licensed medical marijuana from a high level of regulation to a much looser level. It also provides a tax break to licensed medical marijuana operators.
This move does not legalize marijuana use under federal law, but it will impact the 40 states that have approved medical marijuana programs.
Blanche said Thursday in a post on social platform X that the order calls for an “expedited hearing” to reschedule marijuana and state-licensed marijuana, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), from Schedule I to Schedule III.
“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” the acting attorney general wrote.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will hold an administrative hearing beginning on June 29 to consider this rescheduling request.
“Under the direction of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche, DEA is expeditiously moving forward with the administrative hearing process — bringing consistency and oversight to an area that has lacked both,” DEA Administrator Terry Cole said in a Thursday statement.
The order will expedite the process by which state-licensed medical marijuana operators register with the DEA. It also affirms that cannabis researchers will not face legal repercussions for using state-licensed marijuana.
Last December, President Trump signed an executive order directing officials to expedite the rescheduling process in a push to expand cannabis research.
The president stressed at the time that he was not lifting the federal ban on marijuana, which has been effectively in place since the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act in 1937.
He also warned of negative effects of recreational marijuana use during the signing ceremony for the executive order last year.
“If it’s abused, it’s never safe to use powerful, controlled substances in recreational matters, and especially in this case, if you take a look, illegal and unregulated drugs, very, very bad thing,” Trump said.
Former President Biden initiated the rescheduling process during his time in office, but it was not finalized by the time Trump replaced him.
Trump has taken other steps recently to expand drug research, signing an executive order on Saturday to accelerate studies into certain psychedelic drugs that could be used to treat mental health issues in veterans.
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