Trump announces marijuana classification as a less dangerous substance to support medical treatment
In a radical shift in US drug policy, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday an official decision to reclassify marijuana as a “less dangerous” narcotic. This strategic move is primarily aimed at opening the door to medical and scientific research exploring the therapeutic benefits of cannabis products and ending decades of strict restrictions that equated the plant with the most dangerous drugs.
A qualitative leap from Table 1 to Table 3
Under this directive, marijuana will be removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the category that includes drugs with no recognized medical use and a high potential for addiction, such as heroin and LSD. Instead, it will be placed in Schedule III, which includes substances with recognized medical uses and a lower potential for addiction, such as ketamine and certain codeine-containing stimulants and analgesics.
Focus on medical, not recreational use
During his announcement from the White House, President Trump was careful to clarify the boundaries of this decision, emphasizing that this step “does not in any way authorize the use of marijuana as a recreational drug” at the federal level. He explained that the ultimate goal is to make it more readily and safely available “for legitimate medical uses,” in response to the pleas of patients suffering from serious medical conditions.
Trump added, in a sympathetic tone, “There are people begging me to do this. People suffering from acute and chronic pain, cancer patients who need options to alleviate their suffering.” This statement reflects a shift in the official stance toward patients who rely on medical cannabis in states that permit it, who previously faced legal complications due to federal classification.
Removing obstacles to scientific research
From a scientific standpoint, this decision is a victory for researchers and physicians. Trump noted that "this decision will greatly facilitate the resumption of medical research related to marijuana, allowing us to study its potential benefits and risks, and its future treatments.".
Historically, marijuana's Schedule I classification imposed extremely strict limitations on scientists, requiring complex approvals from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and stringent security measures for storing the substance, resulting in a scarcity of reliable clinical studies. With the move to Schedule III, these bureaucratic hurdles will be reduced, paving the way for the development of new cannabis-derived drugs to treat conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bridging the gap between federal and state laws
This decision comes at a time when the United States is experiencing significant discrepancies between federal and state laws. While dozens of states have legal programs for medical marijuana, and major states like California and Colorado have approved its recreational use, the federal ban has remained an obstacle to regulating the sector.
Reclassification will not immediately legalize recreational marijuana nationwide, but it will reduce legal conflicts and may open the door for companies operating in this field to access banking services and benefit from tax exemptions that were previously denied under the federal tax code (Section 280E), thus boosting the economics of this emerging medical sector.
