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Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to move cannabis out of the most restrictive drug category, a change that would loosen limits on research and certain regulations but stop short of making marijuana legal nationwide.
“I’m pleased to announce that I will be signing an Executive Order to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance with legitimate medical uses,” the president said from the Oval Office.
“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 added. “It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact.”
The action allows for a pilot program that reimburses Medicare patients for products containing CBD, a widely used cannabis-derived compound that does not produce a high.
Under the order, marijuana would be shifted from Schedule I, a category that includes heroin, to Schedule III, which also includes ketamine. The move, however, would not legalize marijuana as some states have done, and would not change how law enforcement agencies handle marijuana-related arrests, according to senior administration officials who spoke to the New York Times.
Placing marijuana in Schedule III would align it with certain prescription pain medications, while keeping recreational use illegal at the federal level. The change would still need to go through the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) formal rule-making process. The reclassification could make scientific research easier as well as ease burdens on legal cannabis businesses by reducing strict federal tax penalties and improving access to banking services.
The order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop “research methods and models utilizing real-world evidence” to study the long-term health effects of medical marijuana and hemp-derived cannabinoid products.
It also states the White House will work with Congress to expand access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while restricting products that pose serious health risks, citing a current lack of FDA approval. According to the order, one in five US adults and nearly 15% of seniors reported using CBD in the past year.
For years, marijuana’s designation as a highly dangerous and addictive substance has been widely criticized. Moving it to a different category reflects a federal acknowledgment that cannabis has recognized medical benefits and a lower risk of abuse than previously classified. Trump’s order does not affect recreational marijuana nor does it include any changes to criminal justice laws.
Pew research suggests that 57% of Americans think cannabis should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, while 32% think it should be legal for medical use only.
Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml), said that the order “validates the experiences of tens of millions of Americans, as well as those of tens of thousands of physicians, who have long recognized that cannabis possesses legitimate medical utility”.
Armentano added, however, that “while 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,” referencing the fact that 24 US states have already legalized the use and sale of the substance.
