Trump Poised to Back Cannabis Rescheduling in Major Federal Shift, Sources Say

President Donald Trump plans to issue an executive order to reclassify cannabis under federal drug laws, according to reports from multiple news outlets. The president is expected to direct his administration to reschedule marijuana under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), six unnamed persons familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.

Attorney Shane Pennington, who represents two cannabis companies involved in litigation over a plan to reschedule cannabis initiated by former President Joseph Biden, told the Washington Post that the president does not have the authority to unilaterally reschedule cannabis. Trump can, however, direct the Justice Department to issue a final rule on the plan to move marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA rather than waiting for a pending administrative court hearing. Such a move would facilitate increased cannabis research while removing many restrictions cannabis businesses face, including potentially crippling taxation provisions.

“This would be the biggest reform in federal cannabis policy since marijuana was made a Schedule I drug in the 1970s,” Pennington said.

Rescheduling Rumors Fly

News of the seemingly impending reclassification of marijuana quickly spread throughout the cannabis community. Brian Vicente, founding partner of national cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente LLP, says the “monumental change will have a massive, positive effect on thousands of state-legal cannabis businesses around the country.”

“One dominating inequity cannabis businesses face is the inability to deduct regular business expenses, since they sell a Schedule I substance,” Vicente wrote in a statement to IgniteIt. “Rescheduling releases cannabis businesses from the crippling tax burden they have been shackled with and allows these businesses to grow and prosper. We work with hundreds of licensed cannabis businesses, and the ability to deduct ordinary operating costs under the Schedule III proposal is a game-changer for them.”

Rumors that Trump would approve the rescheduling proposal have swirled through the nation’s capital for months. The president confirmed earlier this year that his administration was considering the plan, though little has been said since.

“We’re looking at it. Some people like it, some people hate it,” Trump said in August. “Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because it does bad for the children, it does bad for the people that are older than children.”

President Backs Rescheduling in White House Phone Call

Trump had a telephone call with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson from the Oval Office on Wednesday to discuss the plan to reschedule cannabis. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services head Mehmet Oz were reportedly also on the call, as were executives of state-licensed cannabis businesses.

Johnson, who has concerns about the rescheduling proposal, shared data and research to support his position. The president then allowed the cannabis executives to rebut Johnson’s arguments. As the call ended, Trump seemed willing to allow rescheduling to proceed, the sources reported, although they noted that the decision is not yet final.

A White House spokesperson confirmed that a final decision on the rescheduling plan has not been made.

Anti-Weed Crusader Bemoans President’s Decision

Kevin Sabet, president of the anti-cannabis group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, took to social media to share the news of Trump’s reported decision to back the rescheduling plan with his supporters.

“If the rumors are correct,” Sabet said, “President Trump is going to call for marijuana to be rescheduled to Schedule III,” which is “obviously not an outcome we wanted.”

“We also know from multiple sources—and, really, multiple different folks—that this was a very vigorous fight in the administration,” the prohibitionist added, according to a report from Marijuana Moment. “But at the end of the day, President Trump listened to business associates and friends—not to the science, not to the data, definitely not—and it’s going to not be good for our country.”

“Of course, with this president, anything is possible,” he said. “Obviously it doesn’t sound good from the rumors we’re hearing, but I can tell you that, either way, we’re going to keep fighting for America’s kids.”