Cannabis rescheduling may be closer than ever. According to the Washington Post, President Trump discussed the matter on a call with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson this week.
The paper cited six people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to these sources, the president intends to issue an executive order directing federal agencies to move forward with the rescheduling process.
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The president was reportedly joined on the Oval Office call by unnamed cannabis executives, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Dr. Mehmet Oz. Speaker Johnson reportedly pushed back on the plan, but was countered by the industry experts.
The sources said the president “ended the call appearing ready to go ahead with loosening restrictions on marijuana.” However, it remains unclear when or if the directive will be issued, although many believe it’s imminent.
In an email exchange with the White House Press Office, GreenState was told that no final decisions have been made on the rescheduling of marijuana. Representatives for Speaker Johnson were not immediately available for comment.
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Currently, cannabis is a Schedule I narcotic, alongside drugs like heroin and LSD. The Justice Department has been weighing a move to the less restrictive Schedule III since President Biden issued a directive in late 2022. The process has stalled since Trump took office earlier this year.
The president said in August that a decision on rescheduling would be coming within a matter of weeks. White House insiders claimed in October that the move would happen by the end of the year.
A move to Schedule III would ease some burdens for the legal cannabis industry, particularly because marijuana businesses would no longer be subject to the punitive 280E tax restrictions.
“This monumental change will have a massive, positive effect on thousands of state-legal cannabis businesses around the country,” said cannabis attorney Brian Vicente, founder partner of Vicente LLP, in a statement sent to GreenState. “Rescheduling releases cannabis businesses from the crippling tax burden they have been shackled with and allow these businesses to grow and prosper.”
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While the cannabis industry could thrive under rescheduling, it is not full legalization. Many advocates are calling for the plant to be descheduled, in which it would likely be regulated like alcohol or tobacco.
Bill Levers is CEO of Freedom Grow, a non-profit organization committed to helping non-violent cannabis prisoners. He told GreenState that descheduling is the only path to securing freedom for those incarcerated for marijuana and preventing future prosecution.
“We would prefer to see cannabis removed from the Controlled Substances Act rather than moved to Schedule III to achieve true criminal justice reform,” Levers said. “Rescheduling benefits companies but descheduling benefits the entire community.”
It remains to be seen whether Trump’s reported plan to advance rescheduling will come to fruition. With a new federal definition of hemp threatening to ban most hemp products nationwide and the legal cannabis market continuing to struggle, any forward movement would be welcomed by most industry stakeholders.
