Federal Government Moves State-Licensed Medical Marijuana to Schedule III

WASHINGTON -- The acting attorney general signed an order on Thursday reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal drug regulations. The change shifts state-licensed medical marijuana to a category defined as having moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, less strictly regulated than Schedule I, which is reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse.

The order provides a tax break to licensed medical marijuana operators by allowing them to deduct business expenses on federal taxes for the first time.

Drug Enforcement Administration. The order makes clear that cannabis researchers will not be penalized for obtaining state-licensed marijuana or marijuana-derived products for use in their work. Any marijuana-derived medicine approved by the Food and Drug Administration is listed in Schedule III.

President Trump directed his administration in December to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana. On Saturday, President Trump signed an unrelated executive order about psychedelics. Officials stated that the Department of Justice was delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options.

“This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information,” a statement said. Officials wrote that the vast majority of states maintain comprehensive licensing frameworks governing cultivation, processing, distribution, and dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes.

The order largely legitimizes medical marijuana programs in the 40 states that have adopted them.

Have authorized adult recreational use of marijuana. Eight states allow low-THC cannabis or CBD oil for medical use, while Idaho and Kansas ban marijuana outright. California became the first state to adopt medical marijuana in 1996.

Washington state legalized adult use of marijuana in 2012, and in Washington state, 302 of 460 licensed stores have endorsements allowing them to sell tax-free cannabis products to registered patients. Marijuana or marijuana-derived products not distributed through a state medical marijuana program continue to be classified in Schedule I. S.

Marijuana prohibition dates to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. The Trump administration is launching a new administrative hearing process beginning in June to consider the broader rescheduling of marijuana. The Justice Department under former President Joe Biden proposed to reclassify marijuana, eliciting nearly 43,000 formal public comments.

U.S. must regulate pursuant to an international treaty.

More than 20 Republican senators signed a letter last year urging the president to keep the current marijuana standards.