President Donald Trump said his administration is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Reclassifying marijuana would be a significant change in the federal government’s policy toward the drug, but it still would not make it legal for recreational use.
Reclassifying marijuana
The president said his decision would come in the next few weeks.
“We’re only looking at that,” Trump said. “That’s early, but you know, somebody reported it, which is fine. We’re looking at it.”
Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, which are considered to be drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Other drugs with the same classification include heroin, LSD and ecstasy.
The Trump administration is considering reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, defined as drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Other drugs in that classification include Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and anabolic steroids.
“That determination hopefully will be the right one,” Trump said. “A very complicated subject, you know, the subject of marijuana. I’ve heard great things having to do with medical, and I’ve [heard] bad things having to do with just about everything else but medical.”
Marijuana has been classified as Schedule I since the signing of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.
Former President Joe Biden asked the DEA and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review how marijuana is scheduled in 2022, before HHS recommended rescheduling marijuana a year later.
The DEA moved to reclassify marijuana last year in a move that’s been on hold since March 2025.
“Some people like it, some people hate it,” Trump said. “Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because if it does bad for the children, it does bad for people that are older than children. But we’re looking at reclassification.”
Support for the move
Among the people who like it, marijuana law reform advocates.
“Moving to Schedule III is important symbolically, because it’s a recognition by the federal government that cannabis has medical value and does not have a high potential for abuse, which is the basic definition of Schedule I substances,” Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told Straight Arrow News. “And it’s important politically, because I think it would provide cover for members of the GOP who might be supportive of cannabis policy reform but have been afraid to say so publicly or vote in that fashion in the past.”
While Fox supports the move, he also acknowledges that it will not make a lot of practical differences, including no changes to research or criminal justice reform.
However, it would ease some of the tax burden on state-licensed cannabis businesses.
So far, 40 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, while 24 have legalized it for recreational use.
As a Schedule I drug, businesses that sell marijuana legally at the state level are not allowed any tax deductions or credits.
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Cannabis has been a Schedule I drug for over 50 years, when President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act into law on Oct. 27, 1970.
“In addition to the relatively high tax rates that most cannabis businesses pay at the state level and all of the costs associated with maintaining stricter regulatory compliance, because they’re unable to deduct those normal business expenses, like any other industry, many of them paid just ridiculously high federal tax rates,” Fox said. “Which makes it very, very difficult for these licensed, regulated businesses to be able to compete with the unregulated market.”
Fox said a move to Schedule III would eliminate some of that tax burden.
Opposition to the move
There are many still opposed to reclassifying marijuana.
Trump-appointed head of the DEA, Terry Cole, promoted an article in 2024 that claimed cannabis is linked to higher suicide rates for high schoolers. During his confirmation hearing, Cole told senators that reviewing where the DEA is on reclassification will be one of his first priorities.
“I’m hopeful that if the president does direct him to move forward with rescheduling, it would happen in relatively short order,” Fox said. “That process can drag out for years and has in previous iterations.”
Turning Point USA cofounder and MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk emphatically pushed back on the report of the possible change.
“I hope this doesn’t happen,” Kirk said on X. “We need to protect public spaces for kids. Everything already smells like weed, which is ridiculous.”
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Author: Cole Lauterbach
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