President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday that might reschedule marijuana to a decrease drug classification — a transfer that might ease federal restrictions, although it might not imply full legalization, in accordance to a supply accustomed to the planning and a senior White House official.
The order would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug, which the Drug Enforcement Administration defines as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” to a Schedule III drug, which the DEA defines as having “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence,” sources mentioned. That reclassification might have implications for analysis of marijuana or use for medical functions.
The White House official warned that whereas the signing was deliberate for Thursday, that timing might shift. Trump himself previewed that the concern was on his radar Monday, telling reporters he was contemplating reclassification “very strongly.”
“We are considering that because a lot of people want to see it — the reclassification, because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify. So, we are looking at that very strongly,” Trump instructed reporters in the Oval Office.
A 12 months in the past, Trump had prompt his return to the White House would usher in a brand new period for marijuana, making it simpler for adults to entry secure merchandise and giving states higher leeway to pursue legalization.
He first declared his help for altering federal marijuana coverage in the 2024 presidential race amid an aggressive courtship of youthful voters, saying he needed to permit for weed firms to receive financial institution accounts and for universities to analysis the drug.
Trump introduced at the time that he meant to vote for a poll measure to legalize leisure marijuana in his dwelling state of Florida. He then added that, as president, he would “continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug.”
Privately, the White House has spent a lot of 2025 researching whether or not and the way to transfer forward with rescheduling marijuana.
Trump and different officers mentioned the concern at a greater than two-hour assembly in the Oval Office on December 9, two sources instructed NCS, although no ultimate determination was made in the quick aftermath.
White House chief of employees Susie Wiles had beforehand requested affected agencies to weigh in, and their responses, compiled by Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, had been introduced to her over the summer season.
NCS’s Steve Contorno contributed to this report.