Politics
NEW: Trump Signs Groundbreaking Executive Order On Marijuana Classification
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to expedite the reclassification of marijuana, a move that will remove barriers and allow expanded efforts to research the substance for medical purposes without legalizing it for recreational use.
“This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact.”
The order directs federal agencies including the DEA and HHS to expedite the reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I — the most stringent drug classification category that indicates high potential for abuse and not accepted for medical use — to Schedule III. This will remove marijuana from being classified alongside deadly drugs like heroin, as Schedule III pertains to substances with low abuse potential that can be researched for medical use.
In addition, the order allows access to hemp-derived CBD products and instructs collaboration with Congress for broader reforms.
This move is monumental as it represents one of the most significant shifts in federal marijuana policy in over 50 years, acknowledging cannabis’s medical value after decades of strict prohibition, potentially spurring state-level action, and easing long-standing barriers that have stifled scientific research.
The reclassification will profoundly impact medical marijuana research by removing stringent Schedule I restrictions, such as mandatory DEA approvals and limited supply sources. This, according to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will clear a national path for marijuana to be used as an alternative to opioid-derived painkillers.
“The facts compel the federal government to recognize that marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when carefully administered. In some cases, this may include the use as a substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain 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 added.
The order does not pertain to recreational marijuana, which has already been legalized in a handful of states despite the Schedule I classification.
