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Trump’s big marijuana move
Rescheduling medical marijuana, briefly explained.
Cameron Peters is a staff editor at Vox.
Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is loosening restrictions on medical marijuana.
What changed? On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that state-licensed medical marijuana and products approved by the Food and Drug Administration containing marijuana will now fall under Schedule III, rather than Schedule I, of the Controlled Substances Act.
It sounds technical, but it’s a big shift: As a Schedule I drug, marijuana was in company with heroin, and considered by the federal government to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
The move to Schedule III recognizes medical marijuana as a lower-risk drug and opens up new possibilities for medical research and treatment, and it has tax implications for medical marijuana businesses.
What about recreational marijuana? Nothing has changed yet, but it’s in the works. In a press release, the DOJ said it would “expedite” the process of “fully” rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III, with a new hearing scheduled for the end of June.
What’s the context? Efforts to reschedule marijuana are bipartisan, but slow-moving. President Joe Biden took what he described as a “monumental” step toward reclassifying the drug in 2024, but ultimately did not complete the process before leaving office. He also pardoned everyone convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law earlier in his presidency.
Last year, Trump also signed an executive order directing the DOJ to step up its efforts to reclassify marijuana.
Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have already legalized medical marijuana to some degree, according to the AP — Idaho and Kansas are the exceptions — while 24 states and DC have legalized it for recreational use. Both medical and recreational marijuana remain illegal federally.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Hi readers, here’s a story about a remarkable bird named Bruce for your evening: “How Bruce the Parrot Landed Atop the Pecking Order, Without a Beak.”
Bruce is a kea — a type of parrot found only in New Zealand — with a badly damaged beak. As the New York Times explains, he’s not only managed to address that disability by using a pebble to groom his plumage, but he’s become the dominant male kea at New Zealand’s Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. You can read his full story here with a gift link.
Have a great evening, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
