In a private meeting last week with two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, President Donald Trump said, “We’ll be moving forward soon with rescheduling marijuana”. This is according to a staffer for one of the lawmakers present.
(Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).
The comment marks Trump’s first known statement this year on the federal marijuana rescheduling process, which began under former President Joe Biden.
In 2022, then-President Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review marijuana’s status under the Controlled Substances Act. In August 2023, HHS formally recommended moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, a less restrictive category. The DEA subsequently conducted a public comment period in which over 40,000 comments were submitted, with over 90% either in support of rescheduling or going further by legalizing or descheduling. Despite this, the process was put on hold earlier this year.
Trump’s comments come at a pivotal time. The Senate is widely expected to confirm Terrence Cole as the new DEA Administrator in the coming days. Cole, during confirmation discussions, said rescheduling marijuana would be one of his top priorities if he’s confirmed.
Although President Trump is not the one who initiated the recent federal rescheduling review, and it will be up to the DEA on the next steps, his personal commitment during this closed-door meeting adds significant political momentum to the bipartisan push currently underway to reform federal cannabis policies.
If marijuana is moved to Schedule III, it will legalize the prescription use of FDA-approved cannabis medicines nationwide, while also providing medical cannabis businesses and patients who are following state law a bevy of federal protections not currently afforded to them.
According to the staffer, Trump’s comments came in response to one of the lawmakers asking Trump where the administration stands on cannabis reform. Trump made no additional cannabis-related comments, as the conversation quickly moved to other topics.
The Marijuana Herald was able to verify that the staffer works for a member of Congress, but we could not independently verify their claims.
