President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal govt.The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalise marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law. But it does change the way it’s regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.The Trump administration also said it was jump-starting the process for reclassifying marijuana more broadly, setting a hearing to begin in June.Trump told his administration in Dec to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana. On Saturday, as the president signed an unrelated executive order about psychedelics, he seemed to express frustration that it was taking so long.Blanche said Thursday 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,” he said.Blanche’s action largely legitimises medical marijuana programmes in the 40 states that have adopted them. It sets up an expedited system for state-licensed medical marijuana producers and distributors to register with the US drug enforcement administration.It makes clear that cannabis researchers won’t be penalised for obtaining state-licensed marijuana or marijuana-derived products for use in their work, and it grants state-licensed medical marijuana firms a windfall by allowing them, for the first time, to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes.The order represents a major policy shift for the US govt, which has continued its longstanding marijuana prohibition —dating to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 — even as nearly all the states have approved cannabis use in some form. Two dozen states plus Washington, DC, have authorised adult recreational use of marijuana, 40 have medical marijuana systems, and eight others allow low-THC cannabis or CBD oil for medical use. Only Idaho and Kansas ban marijuana.The president of American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, Michael Bronstein, called it “the most significant advancement in cannabis policy in 50 years.” “This recognises what Americans have long known, cannabis is medicine,” he said.This is a bloomberg story
