Trump Orders Cannabis Rescheduling

The Trump administration did not broadly legalize marijuana this week. It moved state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved marijuana products into Schedule III on April 23 and set a June 29 hearing on wider rescheduling. (justice.gov) The order came from the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, acting under President Donald Trump’s December 18, 2025 executive order on medical marijuana and cannabidiol research. (whitehouse.gov) (justice.gov) What changed is narrower than the headline suggests. The immediate Schedule III shift applies to FDA-approved products containing marijuana and marijuana products covered by a qualifying state medical-marijuana license. (justice.gov) The broader question — whether marijuana as a category moves from Schedule I to Schedule III — is still in rulemaking. The Drug Enforcement Administration said an expedited administrative hearing will begin June 29, 2026. (justice.gov) (politico.com) Schedule I is the federal category for drugs deemed to have no accepted medical use and a high abuse potential. Schedule III is less restrictive and is used for drugs with accepted medical use and lower abuse risk than Schedule I or II substances. (whitehouse.gov) The White House said the policy rests on a 2023 Department of Health and Human Services recommendation to place marijuana in Schedule III. It also cited Food and Drug Administration findings supporting medical use for pain, chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, and anorexia tied to medical conditions. (whitehouse.gov) The administration says 40 states and the District of Columbia have regulated medical marijuana programs. The White House also said more than 30,000 licensed healthcare practitioners across 43 jurisdictions are authorized to recommend marijuana for more than 6 million registered patients. (whitehouse.gov) This did not start with Trump. In May 2024, the Justice Department under President Joe Biden published a proposed rule to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, after the Health and Human Services recommendation. (justice.gov) (federalregister.gov) That 2024 proposal said marijuana would still remain subject to federal criminal prohibitions even if moved to Schedule III. It also said any change had to go through formal rulemaking and a hearing. (federalregister.gov) Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the new action would expand research on safety and efficacy while keeping federal controls in place. DEA Administrator Terry Cole said the agency is moving ahead with the hearing process under Trump’s direction. (justice.gov) Critics on the right objected within hours. Politico reported that Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas called a change in marijuana’s classification “a step in the wrong direction,” while Smart Approaches to Marijuana said the industry could benefit more than patients. (politico.com) The practical result, for now, is a split system: licensed medical marijuana gets a lower federal schedule, while the wider fight over marijuana’s status moves to a June 29 hearing. (justice.gov)