President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance, marking a major milestone in American drug policy and choosing sides in the debate between advocates for more research and drug policy hawks.
Under the new classification, marijuana will remain an illegal drug under federal law. But the move could facilitate additional research into cannabis, federal officials said, even as others warned it would also boost the marijuana industry by allowing major tax breaks that were prohibited under the substance’s current classification.
While the Trump administration cast the move as a long-awaited, commonsense measure, it also drew immediate condemnation. Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-legalization group, called the move “a public health disaster” and announced it would work with William Barr, who served as attorney general under the first Trump administration, to sue the federal government if the rescheduling process is finalized.
At the signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump emphasized the ways many Americans say that marijuana or cannabis-derived products have helped them relieve pain or treat medical conditions.
“For decades, 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,” he said.
He was joined by numerous federal officials who typically appear at health policy announcements, and, notably, by Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Trump made clear that public opinion was a major factor in his decision, saying he received “more phone calls on this, on doing what we’re doing,” and said that rescheduling marijuana polls at 82% approval.
He also stressed that the order “doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape, or form, and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug — it’s nothing to do with that.”
Still, opponents cast the decision as likely to increase marijuana use, in part because it would allow companies that sell cannabis to deduct standard business expenses from their tax bills, including advertising.
Rescheduling marijuana is “a full betrayal of the president’s promise to keep all Americans safe and healthy,” Kevin Sabet, the Smart Approaches to Marijuana president, said in a statement. “This is a giant gift to Big Marijuana and its pushers who are now more incentivized to target children with their highly addictive products. Thankfully, this decision does not legalize marijuana, but it gifts the industry with more than $2 billion in tax write-offs at a time when their advertising is inflicting carnage on America’s families.”
Despite Trump’s executive order, marijuana rescheduling is not final. Instead, the order merely “directs the attorney general to expedite completion of the process of rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III.”
Under the Controlled Substances Act, Schedule I drugs, which include cocaine and LSD, are considered to have no medical benefit and often carry the most severe criminal penalties. Schedule III, by contrast, contains numerous drugs that are commonly used in mainstream medicine, including prescription opioids and anxiety medications.
Despite the executive order, marijuana rescheduling still must undergo a lengthy process involving both the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, which the Biden administration began in May 2024 but never completed. The order also directs HHS to develop new research methods meant to specifically measure the potential benefits of cannabis.
On a press call earlier Thursday, administration officials declined to specify a timeline for completing the rescheduling process and the research reforms that might follow.
Trump also expressed support for products containing CBD, a compound within marijuana that does not induce a “high” but that many use to treat seizure disorders as well as other health conditions. The press conference came roughly a month after Congress closed the so-called hemp loophole, effectively banning the sale of products that contain even small amounts of THC, the substance that causes marijuana’s better-known euphoric effects.
Advocates of CBD-derived products argued the new threshold for THC is so low that even many nonintoxicating products would be banned. The legislation wouldn’t take effect until late 2026, however, giving lawmakers nearly a year to reconsider.
During the announcement, Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced a pilot program that would allow some Medicare beneficiaries access to CBD products at no charge, if recommended by a doctor, as early as April.
Despite the significant symbolic value of Trump’s move to reschedule marijuana, the move is unlikely to fundamentally reshape access to marijuana, either legal or illicit. The substance remains illegal under federal law and largely regulated on a state-by-state basis.
Volkow, the NIDA director, struck the most cautious tone during the signing ceremony, expressing optimism that research could help some Americans benefit from cannabis-derived treatments but also warning against its dangers, particularly for youth. The potential effectiveness of cannabis for many medical conditions, she said, remains unclear.
“Yes, cannabis can be addictive, and certainly adolescents and children may be the most vulnerable, but we cannot close our eyes to research, and the opportunity we are hearing from patients, that cannabis can solve their problem,” Volkow said, standing an arm’s length to Trump’s left. “It is knowledge that will allow us to optimally benefit, take the benefits that may be behind cannabis, as research shows, but on the other hand also enable us better to do prevention interventions to protect those that are most vulnerable.”
STAT’s coverage of chronic health issues is supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Our financial supporters are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.
