President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the attorney general to reschedule cannabis from one of the most dangerous controlled substances to a less restrictive category, marking one of the most significant changes to American cannabis policy in decades.
The executive order directs the attorney general to move ahead with reclassifying cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. This would place cannabis alongside prescription drugs such as ketamine, codeine with paracetamol, and steroids – substances deemed to have legitimate medical uses and lower abuse potential.
The order also includes a pilot programme that would allow senior citizens on Medicare to receive reimbursement for CBD and medical cannabis products.
“We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain for decades,” Trump told reporters at the White House during an Oval Office signing ceremony alongside cannabis industry representatives and Health and Human Services officials.
The move builds on efforts initiated by the Biden administration. In October 2022, President Joe Biden instructed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review the classification of cannabis. HHS completed its review in August 2023, recommending the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) move cannabis to Schedule III. The DEA proposed the rule change in May 2024 under Attorney General Merrick Garland, but the reclassification was not finalised before Biden left office.
The executive order does not automatically reschedule cannabis. There will be a 30-day public comment period, and opponents are expected to challenge the reclassification through the courts.
The rescheduling does not legalise or decriminalise cannabis at the federal level. Cannabis will remain a controlled substance, and producing or distributing it will still constitute federal crimes, albeit with somewhat reduced penalties. Medical use would only be permitted for FDA-approved cannabis-based prescription drugs.
Trump emphasised during the signing that the action “in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug – has nothing to do with it.”
“Symbolically, it suggests that maybe marijuana isn’t as harmful as people thought [and that] maybe it does have some health benefits,” Vanderbilt University law professor Robert Mikos told The Washington Post. “On the practical side, though, the impact is pretty muted.”
However, cannabis reform advocates argued the move does not go far enough. “Removing cannabis from its Schedule I classification validates the experiences of tens of millions of Americans, as well as those of tens of thousands of physicians, who have long recognised that cannabis possesses legitimate medical utility,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML. “But whilst such a move potentially provides some benefits to patients, and veterans especially, it still falls well short of the changes necessary to bring federal marijuana policy into the 21st century.”
The rescheduling would maintain the conflict between federal prohibition and state laws. Currently, 24 states have legalised recreational cannabis, and 38 have approved medical use, yet these programmes technically violate federal law.
Despite its limitations, the reclassification would provide substantial financial relief to state-licensed cannabis businesses. Under Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, businesses selling Schedule I or II substances cannot claim standard business deductions for expenses such as advertising, rent, or employee salaries. This restriction often results in effective tax rates exceeding 60% for cannabis retailers.
Kim Rivers, chief executive of Trulieve, the Florida-based company that generated $1.2 billion in sales last year, was among the cannabis executives present in the Oval Office during discussions around rescheduling last week. “We strongly support the Trump Administration’s decision to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance,” she said. “It is a historic shift that acknowledges the medical value of cannabis and its lower abuse potential compared to Schedule I drugs like heroin and synthetic fentanyl.”
The move could also ease banking restrictions that have kept most financial institutions out of the cannabis sector, forcing producers to rely on costly alternative lenders. Additionally, it would remove federal research barriers specific to Schedule I drugs, potentially unlocking billions in research funding.
Nearly one in five U.S. residents use cannabis yearly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Polls indicate a large majority of Americans oppose the federal ban on cannabis.
