25 votes

Donald Trump officials reclassify medical marijuana as Schedule III drug

4 comments

  1. [3]
    moocow1452
    Link
    I guess we're at the "In Case of Emergency, Break Glass" stage of the midterms if we're actually going through with this one.

    I guess we're at the "In Case of Emergency, Break Glass" stage of the midterms if we're actually going through with this one.

    18 votes
    1. DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      Not that much of one if he's not trying to actually decriminalize it. I do not envy the lawyers trying to figure out if campuses can/have to allow medical cannabis now. Previously we had to ban...

      Not that much of one if he's not trying to actually decriminalize it.

      I do not envy the lawyers trying to figure out if campuses can/have to allow medical cannabis now. Previously we had to ban all cannabis regardless of the state, if at Schedule III it's legal for medical use then.... Idk. Impacts my job but not my job. Assuming this is actually legal in and of itself.

      12 votes
    2. mild_takes
      Link Parent
      This really could sway voters. I know a guy thats very conservative, anti-vax, and probably pro Trump... he voted for Trudeau the first time because of his promise to legalize weed. Also this is a...

      This really could sway voters. I know a guy thats very conservative, anti-vax, and probably pro Trump... he voted for Trudeau the first time because of his promise to legalize weed.

      Also this is a weird change in attitude. In trump's first term his attorney general at the beginning was very anti weed and they also went after Canadians trying to cross the border that owned weed stocks. Maybe this is just one of those cases where Trump doesn't actually care and is just letting his cronies do what they want.

      2 votes
  2. skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...] [...]

    From the article:

    The Justice Department said that it was immediately reclassifying marijuana products that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as lower-risk drugs and establishing a new registration process for state medical marijuana licenses. Acting attorney general Todd Blanche also said that the administration would hold a new hearing to “fully” reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.

    [...]

    Marijuana has long had the same Schedule I classification as heroin, but administration officials have sought to reclassify the drug as Schedule III, similar to some common prescription painkillers. Medical marijuana is now reclassified as Schedule III under the Justice Department’s order, which does not decriminalize marijuana for recreational use.

    Some health care advocates have spent years pressing for more access to marijuana as a potential treatment, warning that restrictions on the drug made it too hard to conduct research. The administration’s moves also bring national policy closer to legitimizing state laws that have authorized medical marijuana businesses, after years of stalemates over whether states should be in compliance with federal law.

    [...]

    President Joe Biden’s Justice Department in 2024 formally recommended that marijuana be reclassified as Schedule III, but the move stalled amid legal disputes and a pending Drug Enforcement Administration hearing.

    Drug policy experts said that federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services were required to undertake reviews related to public health and safety, even if the pace of that work agitated Trump.

    9 votes