The US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as a less-dangerous drug, moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered the reclassification on Thursday, placing cannabis alongside prescription drugs such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and steroids – substances deemed to have legitimate medical uses and lower abuse potential. In a post on X, Blanche said the Justice Department was “immediately rescheduling FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.”
Under the decisive leadership of @POTUS, this Department of Justice is delivering on his promise to improve American healthcare. This includes:
• Immediately rescheduling FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule IIl
• Ordering a new,… pic.twitter.com/DUtqKQgavl
— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) April 23, 2026
The move follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year directing his administration to begin the reclassification process. “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.
However, the reclassification 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.
Once the rule change is published in the Federal Register, it has 30 days until it takes effect. During that time, it can be legally challenged – which is expected – and be blocked from being implemented for months or even years. The Drug Enforcement Agency will hold a hearing on the change in late June.
Despite not legalising cannabis federally, the reclassification provides 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 – often resulting in effective tax rates exceeding 60 per cent.
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.
Scientists have faced strict approval processes, limited supply access and heavy compliance requirements when attempting to examine cannabis for therapeutic use, including chronic pain, PTSD and neurological disorders.
The reclassification builds on efforts initiated by the Biden administration. In October 2022, President Joe Biden instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to review the classification of cannabis. HHS completed its review in August 2023, recommending that the Drug Enforcement Administration 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 move comes just five days after Trump signed an executive order intended to boost access to psychedelic drugs for medical treatment.
Currently, 24 states have legalised recreational cannabis, and 38 have approved medical use, yet these programmes technically violate federal law. Nearly one in five US residents use cannabis yearly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
