The chief order calls on the US lawyer normal to expedite federal reclassification, creating fewer limitations for research.
Printed On 18 Dec 2025
United States President Donald Trump has signed an govt order to federally reclassify marijuana as much less harmful.
The transfer on Thursday requires Lawyer Common Pam Bondi to expedite the method below the Drug Enforcement Administration for reclassifying marijuana.
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Within the US, medication and different chemical substances are divided right into a five-tier classification system, with Schedule I representing probably the most restricted tier and Schedule V the least.
Marijuana was beforehand within the Schedule I class, the place it was classed alongside potent narcotics like heroin and LSD. With Thursday’s order, it could be fast-tracked all the way down to Schedule III, in a category with ketamine and anabolic steroids.
Trump mentioned the change “isn’t the legalisation” of marijuana, and he added that it “under no circumstances sanctions its use as a leisure drug”.
The change, nevertheless, will make it simpler to conduct analysis on marijuana, as research on Schedule III medication require far much less approval than for Schedule I substances.
Talking earlier within the week, Trump advised reporters the change was fashionable “as a result of it results in great quantities of analysis that may’t be performed except you reclassify, so we’re that very strongly”.
The change is consistent with a number of states which have moved to legalise marijuana for each medical and leisure use. That has created a patchwork of state-level rules at odds with federal regulation, whereby marijuana stays unlawful.
Former US President Joe Biden had taken a number of steps to reduce federal penalties associated to marijuana, together with a mass pardon for these handed harsh sentences for easy possession.
Such convictions had disproportionately affected minority communities and fuelled mass incarceration within the US.
The Biden administration had additionally begun the method of reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III, however the effort was not accomplished earlier than the Democratic president left workplace in January.
Trump has confronted some pushback from inside his celebration concerning the classification shift. Earlier this yr, 20 Republican senators signed a letter urging the president to maintain the extra extreme restrictions.
The group argued that marijuana continues to be harmful and {that a} shift would “undermine your robust efforts to Make America Nice Once more”, a reference to Trump’s marketing campaign slogan.
In the meantime, public assist for legalising marijuana for leisure use has practically doubled lately, rising from 36 % assist in 2005 to 68 % in 2024, in response to Gallup polls.
