The Justice Department on Thursday announced that it was moving to ease restrictions on state-licensed medical marijuana, opening the door for more research and treatment options.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a post to X that he had signed an executive order to immediately reschedule FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III and ordered an "expedited hearing" to fully reschedule the drug.
Schedule I drugs, which also include heroin, ecstasy and LSD, are considered to be more dangerous and are more strictly regulated, and advocates have had high hopes for cannabis to be rescheduled to a lower schedule.
Blanche said that the FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana would now be classified as Schedule III, which is defined as "drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence."
The Justice Department said in a press release that a hearing June 29 would “evaluate broader changes to marijuana’s status under federal law.”
“The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options,” Blanche said in a statement. “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.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement Thursday that the Justice Department’s move “is a welcome step to increase critical research into possible medical applications of cannabis.”
“The Trump administration continues to implement a Gold Standard Science-based approach to shape health policymaking and deliver for American veterans and patients,” Desai said.
Trump signed an executive order in December to fast-track cannabis reclassification. The move did not seek to legalize marijuana on the federal level.
Following the executive order, NBC News reported that scientists expressed high hopes that reclassifying cannabis would boost research possibilities, helping scientists better understand the drug’s impact on medical issues.
Advocates and some medical experts have said that medical marijuana can be used to treat symptoms for conditions related to severe or chronic pain, terminal illnesses and cancer. But critics have also cautioned that marijuana use during childhood and early adulthood can impact brain functions related to attention, memory and learning. There are also concerns about the effects of long-term marijuana use on male fertility.
Cannabis was first established as a Schedule I drug during the Nixon administration.
