Trump's DOJ reschedules medicinal marijuana, increasing access
Just days after President Trump signed an executive order to broaden access to psychedelic medicines, the United States Department of Justice has moved to loosen restrictions on medical marijuana in accordance with an executive order signed by the President in December.
Using his authority under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, a 1961 international treaty, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has placed FDA-approved marijuana products and medicinal marijuana products subject to a qualifying state-issued license under Schedule III, rather than Schedule I where they were previously listed.
“The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options,” Blanche said in a statement. “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.”
Notably, the order also provides retroactive tax relief under IRS code 280E for small businesses dealing in licensed medical marijuana.
Broader rescheduling of marijuana, which would include recreational as well as medicinal products, is being undertaken through a longer process with a hearing scheduled for June 29th. This process, administered by the Drug Enforcement Administration, requires a hearing and a process of notice and comment.
“Under the direction of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche, DEA is expeditiously moving forward with the administrative hearing process — bringing consistency and oversight to an area that has lacked both,” DEA Administrator Terry Cole said in a statement.
The justice department appears to have been spurred into action by off-the-cuff comments from President Trump in the Oval Office during the announcement of the executive order on psychedelics.
"You're going to get the rescheduling done, right?" he said to Blanche. Then, turning to podcaster Joe Rogan, "Joe, they're slow-walking me on the rescheduling."
In a statement, the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) applauded the move but stressed the need to apply the rescheduling to the whole industry.
"By omitting adult-use operators in today’s rescheduling order, businesses selling identical cannabis products could be treated materially differently depending on the type of state license," the lobbying group said. "Moreover, much of the market must continue to operate under an onerous taxation model even as medical operators have the opportunity to write-off common business expenses with the elimination of 280E."
