Politics
Trump Signs Executive Order To Reclassify Marijuana By Removing It From Schedule I
Marijuana will be federally rescheduled under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Thursday.
The directive also aims to address federal hemp laws to promote access to full-spectrum CBD that could be covered under federal health insurance plans.
Months after Trump said a decision on the cannabis reform proposal was imminent, the president issued the directive for agencies to begin moving forward with the plan to transfer cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain for decades,” Trump said. “This action has been requested by American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems and more—including numerous veterans with service-related injuries and older Americans who live with chronic medical problems that severely degrade their quality of life.”
This marks one of the most significant developments in federal marijuana policy since its prohibition a half a century ago, with a Schedule III reclassification recognizing that marijuana has medical value and a lower abuse potential compared to other Schedule I drugs like heroin.
Rescheduling will not federally legalize cannabis. But the policy change will allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to take federal tax deductions they’ve been deprived under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. It will also remove certain research barriers applied to Schedule I drugs.
The change may also spur additional states to modernize their own policies on cannabis, as some lawmakers have cited the federal government’s restrictive classification of marijuana as a reason they have been uncomfortable with enacting legalization or at least allowing medical use.
In addition to directing the attorney general to expedite the completion of the process of rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA, the executive order also includes a novel proposal to allow Medicare recipients to access non-intoxicating CBD that’d be covered under the federal health care plan.
That is a policy Trump seemed to endorse over the summer when he shared a video calling for that specific reform while promoting the health benefits of cannabidiol, particularly for seniors.
Marijuana Moment first reported on leaked details from a White House briefing about the plan on Thursday ahead of the signing event. That includes a directive for top White House staff to work with Congress to give patients access to full-spectrum CBD products, “while still restricting the sale and access to products that cause serious and potentially life threatening health risks.”
The order also urges Congress to examine updating the definition of hemp to ensure that full-spectrum CBD is accessible to patients—a policy change that could mitigate some concerns in the sector about a recent spending bill Trump signed with provisions that would broadly ban consumable hemp products.
Separate from Trump’s order, Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will also be announcing “a model that will allow a number of CMS beneficiaries to benefit from receiving CBD under doctor recommendation at no cost,” a White House official said during the briefing.
Trump endorsed rescheduling—as well as industry banking access and a Florida adult-use legalization initiative—on the campaign trail last year. The president had been largely silent on the issue since taking office during his second term, until a briefing in August where in response to a reporter’s question he announced the administration would decide on rescheduling within weeks.
By moving forward with the plan, Trump is completing a process initiated under the Biden administration. That involved a scientific review by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—which concluded that Schedule III is a more appropriate category for marijuana—as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Recent news reports revealed that Trump was planning to issue the executive order directing federal agencies to move ahead with cannabis rescheduling following a meeting with marijuana industry executives, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. During that meeting, Trump reportedly phoned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who expressed his opposition to rescheduling cannabis.
The rescheduling announcement comes weeks after the president signed a key spending bill that would effectively ban most consumable hemp products, drawing criticism from stakeholders in the hemp industry who argue the policy change would eradicate the market.
Meanwhile, amid the heightened rumors that the Trump administration would be moving forward on marijuana rescheduling, multiple top congressional Democrats made the case that the reform would not go far enough—including one senator who said the move is only an attempt by the president to “gaslight” voters into thinking he legalized cannabis to boost his “pathetic” approval ratings.
Dozens of Republican members of Congress have urged Trump not to reschedule marijuana, arguing that it would harm public health and safety.
This story is developing and will be updated.
