Trump reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in a historic shift
Yahoo • • business
Key Points:
- President Trump's acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, reducing its federal regulatory restrictions but not legalizing it outright.
- The reclassification allows licensed medical marijuana operators to deduct business expenses on federal taxes, facilitates research by protecting cannabis researchers, and legitimizes medical marijuana programs in 40 states.
- The order marks a significant policy shift, aligning federal regulation more closely with state laws, although marijuana not distributed through state programs remains Schedule I.
- Critics argue the move sends mixed messages about marijuana's risks and unfairly benefits large cannabis businesses, while supporters hail it as the most important federal cannabis policy change in decades.
- The Trump administration also initiated a broader marijuana reclassification process, with a hearing scheduled for late June, reflecting ongoing federal reconsideration of cannabis policy.
