President Donald Trump broke with generations of tradition with his executive order last month to reclassify marijuana as the most dangerous drug under federal law.
But as Politico and recent polls have shown, Trump has also defied voters and lawmakers within the MAGA movement and the Republican Party, many of whom want to keep cannabis legal.
Prominent lawmakers who have urged Trump not to redistrict marijuana include House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana; Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barasso, majority whip; and US Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, chairman of the Freedom Caucus and lead author of the House language banning THC for hemp.
Some observers speculated that Trump embraced marijuana reform as a way to woo voters ahead of the November midterm elections.
But the controversy sparked by Trump’s marijuana sop could spell trouble for upcoming changes needed by the $32 billion legal cannabis industry, such as protecting banks and revisiting the ban on hemp THC.
Republicans are turned off by the marijuana restructuring needed to fix the banks
Trump’s historic December 18 executive order ordered the Justice Department to “take all necessary steps to complete” the reclassification of marijuana as a Schedule 3 controlled substance, from Schedule 1, and to do so “in the most expeditious manner.”
It is still unknown when marijuana may be legalized again, opening up significant tax savings for marijuana-related businesses that will no longer be subject to section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code.
As legal experts have said MJBizDailyThere’s no official timeline — and opponents have vowed to sue to stop marijuana redistricting.
Moreover, reforming the EO itself will not encourage banks to start providing services to cannabis-related companies, observers say. That would require Congress to eventually pass separate legislation, such as the SAFER Banking Act.
Such a win requires action by Congress, where disputes over contentious topics such as cannabis reform have been difficult to break.
Does MAGA like marijuana?
Congressional opponents of marijuana reform include lawmakers who represent states strongly in Trump’s country. 48 Republican lawmakers have signed letters asking the president not to reschedule.
They also include key senators such as Wyoming Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis.
Lummis was one of a handful of Republican senators who supported legalization of marijuana. However, he also signed a Senate letter opposing marijuana reform.
Trump’s order also opens the door for the White House to work with Congress to revisit hemp reform that would effectively ban many of the hemp-derived cannabinoid products currently on the market.
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Republican voters have also shown dissatisfaction with the legalization of marijuana. Only 40% of self-identified Republican voters say marijuana should be legalized, according to a November Gallup poll, compared to 85% of Democrats and 66% of independents.
That has fallen sharply in majority support as recently as two years ago, when federal health regulators found marijuana to have medicinal value during the marijuana reform process initiated by Biden.
