President Trump has signed a reimposition of marijuana, an order to cover CBD
President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled the most significant change in federal marijuana policy since 1970 with an executive order that reclassifies marijuana as a non-dangerous drug and recognizes for the first time its medical benefits.
“I promised to be a reasonable president, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” the president said, flanked by doctors and veterans’ advocates during an Oval Office signing.
“This is something to do with the mind.”
The executive order directs the Department of Justice to move marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act.
It was not immediately clear when cannabis would become Schedule 3, a designation that recognizes marijuana’s medical value under federal law.
What is Trump’s marijuana reform doing?
Reclassifying marijuana does not legalize the drug. And it doesn’t significantly change the way cannabis is produced and sold under state law.
However, the reorganization exempts the $32 billion US legal marijuana industry from Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, which promises immediate benefits in the form of federal tax exemptions.
Along with increasing restrictions on cannabis companies that affect plants, the restructuring is expected to encourage large institutional investors to enter the cannabis space.
Other desired reforms, such as protecting banks and interstate commerce, will have to wait for further action, likely from Congress.
And while some cannabis-specific barriers to drug research will remain, rescheduling marijuana is also expected to spur research. Institutions, such as public universities that receive federal funding, may be less wary of administering the drug.
Trump’s marijuana order includes CBD
Trump is also directing lawmakers and officials to make CBD-based treatment available to seniors on Medicare, a revolutionary development that could happen as soon as April 2026, according to Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
“President Trump’s executive order has created a major shift in health care — one of the greatest achievements in generations,” said Howard Kessler, founder of the Commonwealth Project, in a statement. It was Kessler’s organization that produced a video extolling CBD’s potential to treat health problems in adults that Trump posted on his Public Truth page in September.
“While cannabis reform will make headlines, it is his revolutionary Medicare program that is bringing immediate, life-changing relief and access to cannabinoid-based therapies to millions of adults dealing with chronic pain and debilitating conditions,” Kessler said.
Trump is said to have been influenced to reform marijuana with a big thanks to Kessler, a member of the Mar-a-Lago Club, and Kim Rivers, CEO of Tallahassee, Fl.-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp.
Both Oz and the president said in that campaign of influence Thursday.
“It’s something to do with the fact that a lot of people I respect are asking me to do it – people with problems, serious medical problems,” the president said. “Especially with cancer.”
“Howard Kessler, God bless you for being a pain on our side,” Oz lamented. “Mr. President, you promised to stop calling you – about this issue.”
Last year, Trump became the first major-party presidential candidate to endorse the legalization of marijuana for adult use when he said he would vote for Amendment 3, a campaign sponsored by Trulieve to legalize marijuana in Florida.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
