The Trump administration is mulling whether to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a move that could potentially expand its retail sale, according to comments the president made Monday.
But President Donald Trump was characteristically unclear about any plans to move cannabis from a Schedule 1 drug (those with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” such as heroin, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) to a Schedule III drug, which would make its sale less restricted. Schedule III drugs are defined as those with “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, such as Tylenol with codeine," according to the DEA.
“It’s a very complicated subject base,” Trump said during a press briefing Monday, according to reporting from Politico. “I’ve heard great things having to do with medical and bad things having to do with just about everything else.”
Cannabis companies have donated millions of dollars to Trump’s political groups, according to the Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report on the possible reclassification. Placing cannabis in the Schedule III category would also allow for tax breaks for those companies, the WSJ said.
Trump said he would make the reclassification decision in the coming weeks.
On his Truth Social social media platform last year, Trump said he would vote for a (since-failed) Florida amendment to legalize marijuana and that he would “continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug.”
The intoxicating cannabis products currently being sold at some convenience stores, liquor stores, supermarkets and other outlets contain hemp-derived THC. As allowed under the 2018 Farm Bill, those products must contain 0.3% or less hemp-derived THC by weight. Marijuana with a higher THC concentration is sold in dispensaries for both medical and recreational use in many states.
Regulations around hemp-derived THC are currently being debated across many states and at the federal level.
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