Trump signs executive order to change marijuana law in the US and here's what it really means
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to alter US marijuana law.
Former president Joe Biden initiated rescheduling how marijuana was deemed in American law, with intention to drop it from Schedule I to the less severe Schedule III, but never got around to finalizing the process before he gave up the White House to President Trump.
However, the POTUS appeared keen to pick up where Biden left off, having signalled in summer this year that he was open to dropping the order to support expanding cannabis research.
Now, Trump has signed an executive order to boost the process and apparently ease restrictions on marijuana in a medical context.
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"The executive order the President will sign today is focused on increasing medical research for medical marijuana and CBD — cannabidiol,” a Trump administration official said in the press briefing.
“The president is very focused on the potential medical benefits, and he has directed a commonsense approach that will automatically … start working to improve the medical marijuana and CBD research to better inform patients and doctors. That’s the primary goal.”
The move means the drug is seen differently in US law, since Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act, the highest schedule, states the substance is considered to have no accepted medical use.
By contrast, a Schedule III substance is believed to have a 'moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence'.
The administration cited reviews by the Department of Health and Human Services that found more than 30,000 licensed health care professionals across the US in 2023 were able to issue more than six million registered patients with medical marijuana for as many as 15 conditions.
However, despite rescheduling it, the order bears no impact on criminal penalties or for the recreational use of marijuana.
Trump told reporters: "I want to emphasize that the order I am about to sign is not the legalization or it doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form, and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug."
Still, it might come as good news to marijuana dispensaries and businesses that will now be allowed to deduct expenses or add additional credits to their annual federal taxes.
They currently can't do this for substances listed in Schedule I and Schedule II.
The news also comes as a new study reveals medical marijuana may not be as good for human health as initially thought.
While commonly prescribed for use in managing chronic pain, particularly where other medications have not worked, and sometimes to avoid prescribing highly addictive opioids, a new study published in JAMA suggests the medical benefits of marijuana may have been overstated.
This review looked at over 2,500 clinical trials, from January 2010 through September 2025, around marijuana use for cannabis and cannabinoids, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for 'HIV/AIDS-related anorexia, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and certain pediatric seizure disorders'.
The results of the study found that while there was some evidence that it helped in some situations, like for chemotherapy, there were some risks associated.
This included noting that approximately 29 percent of people who use cannabis medically met the criteria for 'cannabis use disorder' - a generalized term for dependancy on cannabis.
It also found that using cannabis daily could also be connected to cardiovascular risks, such as increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, compared to someone who does not use the drug daily.
Topics: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Politics, US News, Health, Drugs
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