ADVERTISEMENT
In a move that reverberates through the legal, medical, and economic corridors of the United States, President Donald J. Trump has initiated a transformative shift in federal drug policy. On Thursday, December 18, 2025, the President signed an executive order directing the federal government to reclassify marijuana, effectively ending its decades-long standing as one of the nation’s most restricted substances. This directive seeks to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, a bureaucratic pivot that carries profound implications for the future of American healthcare and the burgeoning legal cannabis industry.
Since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, marijuana has been classified under Schedule I, a category reserved for substances deemed to have a high potential for abuse and “no currently accepted medical use.” By sharing this classification with substances such as heroin and LSD, marijuana has historically faced insurmountable federal barriers regarding scientific inquiry and interstate commerce. The President’s new order seeks to relocate the drug to Schedule III, placing it alongside substances like ketamine and anabolic steroids. This specific classification acknowledges that the substance has an officially recognized medical utility and a lower potential for physical or psychological dependence than the drugs in Schedules I or II.
ADVERTISEMENT
