Trump’s reclassification move on marijuana could boost medical research

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced on Thursday that they will be reclassifying some marijuana products as Schedule III drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, putting them in the same category as anabolic steroids and ketamine.

The change, which applies only to products approved by the Food and Drug Administration or regulated by state marijuana licenses, could make it easier for cannabis researchers to study these products.

Up until now, all forms of marijuana were considered Schedule I substances, the same as heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and other drugs that are considered to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” This highly restrictive classification meant that scientists wanting to study marijuana had to go through a laborious process to obtain a research license.

Once they got a license, they then had to follow a long, cumbersome list of strict safety requirements.

“Those things just drive people away. Switching from Schedule I to Schedule III will remove some of those barriers,” Chad Johnson, the director of graduate studies in medical cannabis at the University of Maryland, told C&EN back in December.

The move comes 4 months after President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order directing the US attorney general to expedite the reclassification of the substance. The US had initially proposed reclassifying the drug during the Joe Biden administration, but the proposal was still being reviewed by the DEA when Trump came to office for the second time.

The move also comes 5 days after Trump signed an executive order calling for the acceleration of research into psychedelic drugs to treat serious mental-health conditions.

“The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says in the DOJ press release this week. “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.”

The DOJ says it’s also considering the broader rescheduling of marijuana. The DEA will hold an administrative hearing (PDF) on the matter in June.

“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 says in the DOJ press release.