Cannabis is on the verge of being reclassified under federal law. Some see the shift as long overdue recognition of medical reality. Others worry it could deepen federal control over a plant that remains illegal nationwide.
President Trump announced during a press conference today that he has ordered marijuana removed from the most restrictive category of the Controlled Substances Act and placed into Schedule III, a class reserved for substances deemed to have accepted medical use but subject to regulation.
Gathering in the Oval Office, the President ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to move what federal law still calls “marijuana” from Schedule I to Schedule III, marking the first time since 1970 that cannabis would no longer be listed alongside drugs considered to have no medical value.
“We have people begging for me to do this. People in great pain,” the President said. He was flanked by cannabis business and health officials.
Placed in Schedule I during the Nixon administration, cannabis was legally defined as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.
Schedule III drugs, by contrast, are recognized as having medical applications. They include ketamine, anabolic steroids, and products like Tylenol with codeine. Fentanyl, notably, remains a Schedule II drug, despite being linked to 48,422 overdose deaths in 2024 alone. Cannabis has no known lethal overdose threshold.
Public opinion has long diverged from federal policy. Roughly 64% of Americans support full legalization, and more than 90% support medical use. Twenty-four states have legalized adult use, most recently Ohio and Delaware, while 42 states allow medical cannabis, including Mississippi.
What Schedule III could change
The practical effects of rescheduling remain uncertain. Federal arrests for marijuana are rare. Enforcement largely happens at the state level.
The most immediate impact could be financial. Moving cannabis …
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Author: David Downs / High Times
