President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. This significant move comes nearly four decades after Francis Young, the former chief administrative law judge at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), declared marijuana should not be classified as a Schedule I substance. The change is intended to expedite the recognition of marijuana’s medical benefits and modify its regulatory framework.
Under the current classification, Schedule I includes drugs deemed to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, such as heroin and LSD. By moving marijuana to Schedule III, which includes substances like ketamine and certain prescription medications, the federal government acknowledges a shift in perspective regarding marijuana’s therapeutic potential. This reclassification implicitly recognizes that the dangers associated with marijuana have been overstated.
Marijuana has been categorized as a Schedule I drug since 1970, despite ongoing calls for reevaluation. The DEA has historically rejected petitions to change this classification, including a significant petition that led to Young’s 1988 ruling. Young asserted at that time that marijuana is “one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man” and has accepted medical uses for conditions such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and spasticity from multiple sclerosis.
The turning point for marijuana’s classification arrived in 2023 when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a review at the direction of President Joe Biden. The review found “credible scientific support” for marijuana’s medical applications in treating pain, nausea, and anorexia linked to medical conditions. HHS noted that the majority of users engage with marijuana in a way that does not lead to significant health risks.
With this evidence, HHS concluded that marijuana’s dangers do not warrant its placement in Schedule I or even Schedule II, which includes drugs like fentanyl. Instead, it recommended that marijuana be classified as Schedule III, which Attorney General Merrick Garland endorsed in May 2024, paving the way for Trump’s executive order.
Trump’s order is positioned as a relief for patients suffering from severe medical conditions, stating it will benefit “American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems and more.” While this reclassification will facilitate medical research by easing regulatory burdens, it does not equate to the legalization of medical use unless the Food and Drug Administration approves specific cannabis-based products as prescription medicines.
Additionally, the reclassification does not legalize state-licensed marijuana businesses, which remain illegal under federal law, although they may face less severe penalties. Nevertheless, these businesses stand to gain from the new classification, as they will be able to access standard deductions on their income tax returns, a significant change given the high effective tax rates they currently face.
Since Young’s initial ruling in favor of marijuana, 40 states have legalized its use for medical purposes. Of these, 24 states also permit recreational use, illustrating a growing discrepancy between state laws and federal prohibition. Public sentiment has increasingly shifted away from support for the federal ban, creating a complex legal landscape.
While Trump emphasized that his order “doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form,” it marks a notable step towards acknowledging the medical potential of cannabis. The shift in classification also reflects changing attitudes towards marijuana usage and its acceptance in society, even as it stops short of full legalization.