The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law. But it changes the way it is regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — intended for drugs without a medical use and with a high potential for abuse — to the less regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a significant tax break and reduces some barriers to cannabis research.The Trump administration also said it has begun the process of reclassifying marijuana more broadly, and has scheduled a hearing to begin in June.Trump asked his administration last December to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana. On Saturday, when the president signed an unrelated executive order on drugs, he appeared to express frustration that it had taken so long.Blanche said Thursday that the Justice Department is “fulfilling on President Trump’s promise” to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options.
“This rescheduling procedure allows for research into the safety and effectiveness of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information,” he said.Blanche’s action largely legalizes medical marijuana programs in the 40 states that have approved them. It establishes a fast-track system for state-licensed medical marijuana producers and distributors to register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.It clarifies that cannabis researchers will not be penalized for obtaining state-licensed marijuana or marijuana-derived products to use in their work, and gives state-licensed medical marijuana businesses a windfall by allowing them, for the first time, to deduct business expenses from their federal taxes.The order represents a major shift in policy for the U.S. government, which has continued its long-standing prohibition of marijuana — dating back to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 — even as nearly all states have approved cannabis use in some form.
Twenty states plus Washington, D.C., have allowed recreational use of marijuana for adults, 40 states have medical marijuana regulations, and eight other states allow low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis or CBD oil for medical use.
Only Idaho and Kansas prohibit marijuana.American Cannabis and Hemp Trade Association President Michael Bronstein called the order “the most significant advance in cannabis policy in 50 years.” “This is an acknowledgment of what Americans have known for a long time, which is that cannabis is medicine,” he said.This is Bloomberg’s story
