‘President of common sense’: Trump reschedules marijuana, improving patient access

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will expand access to cannabis, reducing the criminality of possessing and distributing the plant and related products. The change will only impact federal law, though with that comes a shift in how serious a matter it is to move "weed" across state lines. 

Prior to this change, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had marijuana listed as a Schedule I controlled substance—the same as street heroin—denoting a substance that has no medicinal or scientific value.

Now it will be viewed by the DEA as a Schedule III substance, meaning the sticky flowering plant will join drugs like codeine, deemed to have medicinal value and a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

While selling and transporting harvested cannabis nuggets, candy products, vapes or infused baked goods remains a crime, the change opens the door for new research into how the plant and its primary psychoactive component, THC, can be used as medicine. 

Some research has found THC to be useful as a treatment for autoimmune diseases, seizures, depression and a wide variety of other ailments. However, because of the lack of well-funded, robust research as a result of the federal ban, evidence is limited. 

Regardless, a number of states have legalized cannabis for medical and recreational use, and an entire industry has built up around cultivating and creating products from its buds and leaves. Those companies have been lobbying for a change to federal policy, as many of the largest players in the space were locked behind state lines. 

As president, Trump has the authority to reschedule drugs and shift DEA policy for how federal law is enforced, though he cannot outright legalize it. That would take an act of Congress.