President Trump confirms interest in redistricting marijuana, timeline unclear

President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the White House is “very strongly” considering the loosening of federal restrictions on marijuana, a move that will boost the $32 billion legal industry and reveal future, much-desired reforms.

However, Trump declined to give an exact timeline, meaning last week’s prediction that the executive order making marijuana Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act could come as soon as Monday has been proven wrong.

Answering questions from reporters during an unrelated event at the White House on Monday, Trump confirmed his interest in the issue.

“We are considering it,” he said.

“Because, uh, a lot of people want to see it — reclassification — because it leads to a lot of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify.

“So we’re looking at that a lot.”

When will President Trump decriminalize marijuana?

Last year, Trump became the first president of a major party to legalize the use of marijuana.

Rumors that he was considering ending the cannabis deregulation process that began during the Biden administration began to heat up over the summer.

The Washington Post first reported late Thursday that Trump had informed top lawmakers and Cabinet officials that he planned to decriminalize marijuana.

CNBC reported Friday that the executive order could be issued as soon as Monday, though sources were cautioned MJBizDaily that later this week is also possible.

Trump reached his decision in part after lobbying hard for figures from the cannabis industry.

This includes the CEO of Trulieve Cannabis Corp. Kim Rivers and Howard Kessler, the financier behind The Commonwealth Project, an advocacy group that also supported the Biden administration’s failed redistricting efforts.

Trump’s marijuana reform and CBD insurance coverage

The Commonwealth Project also produced a video extolling the benefits of the CBD cannabinoid for adults that Trump reposted on his Truth Social account in September.

Sources close to the situation say Trump’s plan to rescind the executive order could direct certain CBD treatments to be covered by Medicare.

Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule 3 drug would exempt the $32 billion legal marijuana industry from Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits the basic business deduction on federal tax returns.

However, its benefits in other endeavors – including research – are less profound.

According to Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), an anti-marijuana organization that vows to stop marijuana redistricting, many of the same research restrictions will apply.

That’s in part because of language, which the SAMs benefited from, that was included in a research bill that former President Joe Biden signed into law.