President Trump's acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who say cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government. The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under US law, reports the AP. But it does change the way it's regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I—reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse—to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.
Blanche said Thursday that the Department of Justice was "delivering on President Trump's promise" to expand Americans' access to medical treatment options. "This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information," he said in a statement. Blanche's action Iargely legitimizes medical marijuana programs in the 40 states that have adopted them. It sets up an expedited system for state-licensed medical marijuana producers and distributors to register with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
It makes clear that cannabis researchers won't be penalized for obtaining state-licensed marijuana or marijuana-derived products for use in their work, and it grants state-licensed medical marijuana companies a windfall by allowing them, for the first time, to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes. The order represents a major policy shift for the US government, which has continued its longstanding marijuana prohibition—dating to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937—even as nearly all states have approved cannabis use in some form. Two dozen states plus Washington, DC, have authorized adult recreational use of marijuana, 40 have medical marijuana systems, and eight others allow low-THC cannabis or CBD oil for medical use. Only Idaho and Kansas ban marijuana outright.
The regulation of medical marijuana has come a long way since California became the first state to adopt it in 1996, Blanche wrote. "Today the vast majority of States maintain comprehensive licensing frameworks governing cultivation, processing, distribution, and dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes," Blanche wrote. Marijuana or marijuana-derived products that are not distributed through a state medical marijuana program will continue to be classified as Schedule I. The Trump administration is launching a new administrative hearing process beginning in June to consider the broader rescheduling of marijuana. Schedule III drugs are defined as having moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Some critics of the industry have suggested that legalization in the states has led to stronger and stronger cannabis products, which need to be researched rather than categorized less strictly.
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