Arizona Republicans want to kill legal weed sales. Trump’s rescheduling move just made that a lot harder.
In the strange new politics of cannabis in 2026, the movement to roll back legalized marijuana in Arizona is running into a major federal curveball. The same GOP coalition pushing a ballot initiative to dismantle the state’s adult-use marketplace now has to contend with an unexpected force on the right: Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at accelerating the federal rescheduling of marijuana.
At the center of the controversy is a ballot measure that would end commercial adult-use cannabis sales in Arizona while leaving possession, home growing and the medical program intact. The idea has been divisive since it was filed late last year. But recent comments from two Republican members of Arizona’s U.S. House delegation have pushed it further into the spotlight.
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said he supports the repeal effort, but acknowledged that Trump’s rescheduling push could complicate the campaign’s momentum and message. “He’s got power,” Gosar told Marijuana Moment, referring to the president’s directive for the attorney general to move quickly on a rule that would shift marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
The irony is hard to miss. Anti-legalization activists have spent years arguing that legalization increases youth exposure and accelerates THC potency. Now one of their own allies is openly conceding that the most powerful Republican in the country has muddied that narrative by pushing cannabis toward a more medically recognized federal status.
Another Arizona Republican in Congress, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), struck a similar tone. Biggs argued for keeping marijuana under strict federal control, saying prohibition reduces taxpayer spending tied to what he described as cannabis-related consequences. But he also questioned how serious …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
