Trump’s Executive Order Reschedules Marijuana, Acknowledges Medical Use

President Donald Trump has ordered the reclassification of marijuana, moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. This decision, made on March 2024, comes nearly four decades after Francis Young, then chief administrative law judge at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), determined that marijuana did not warrant its previous classification as a highly dangerous drug with no accepted medical use.

Under the new guidelines, marijuana will be categorized alongside substances like ketamine and Tylenol with codeine, rather than with drugs such as heroin and LSD. Although this reclassification does not equate to full legalization, it signifies a shift in the federal government’s stance on marijuana’s safety and efficacy, which has been largely negative for over fifty years.

Marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I substance since the enactment of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. This classification is intended for drugs deemed to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical applications. Despite numerous petitions to reevaluate this status, the DEA has consistently upheld it, including after Young’s 1988 ruling, which followed a protracted legal battle lasting 16 years.

In his ruling, Young stated, “There is accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision,” highlighting its therapeutic potential for conditions like chemotherapy-induced nausea and spasticity from multiple sclerosis. Despite this acknowledgment, the federal government maintained a Schedule I designation until a recent review by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ordered by President Joe Biden.

HHS’s findings indicated “credible scientific support” for marijuana’s medical applications, particularly in treating pain, nausea, and appetite loss due to medical conditions. The review concluded that the safety profile of marijuana usage does not warrant its Schedule I status and instead recommended it be moved to Schedule III. HHS noted that “the vast majority of individuals who use marijuana are doing so in a manner that does not lead to dangerous outcomes to themselves or others.”

Following HHS’s recommendation, Attorney General Merrick Garland published a proposed rule in May 2024 to implement this change, which Trump is keen to finalize promptly. In promoting this shift, Trump emphasized its potential benefits for “American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems and more.”

While this reclassification will facilitate medical research by removing the stringent regulatory requirements associated with Schedule I substances, it does not automatically legalize medical marijuana use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must approve specific cannabis-based products for them to be considered prescription medicines. Additionally, the reclassification does not change the legal status for state-licensed marijuana businesses, which remain illegal under federal law, albeit with reduced penalties.

Despite these limitations, state-licensed marijuana businesses stand to gain from the reclassification. They will be able to claim standard deductions on their income tax returns, alleviating the burden of disproportionately high effective tax rates due to their previous Schedule I status. Interestingly, Trump did not mention these implications for marijuana merchants, even though he has previously shown support for recreational legalization in Florida and for reforms to improve access to financial services for the cannabis industry.

The landscape has changed significantly since Young’s original ruling, with now 40 states legalizing marijuana for medical use. Of these, 24 states, representing a majority of the U.S. population, have also legalized it for recreational use. This divergence between state and federal law has created a complex legal environment, one that many Americans increasingly oppose.

Trump’s assertion that his order “doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form” remains true. Nevertheless, it signals a significant shift in how the federal government views marijuana, challenging long-held beliefs about its dangers and opening the door for greater acceptance of its medical benefits.