Medical Marijuana

Medical Marijuana Rescheduling Is Legally Puzzling but a 'Huge Win' for Patients, Suppliers, and Scientists

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's distinction between medical and recreational cannabis is hard to reconcile with the relevant scientific and statutory criteria.

Jacob Sullum | 4.23.2026 2:20 PM

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On Saturday, while signing an executive order aimed at facilitating regulatory review of psychedelics that have shown promise as psychotherapeutic catalysts, President Donald Trump complained that his underlings had not yet delivered on his promise to reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). "Will you get the rescheduling done, please?" Trump said to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "They're slow-walking me on rescheduling….You're gonna get it done, right?"

Although Kennedy's department has an advisory role in rescheduling decisions, the CSA authorizes the attorney general to make the final call. And on Thursday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche took a big step toward Trump's goal by signing an order that moves state-approved medical marijuana from Schedule I, the CSA's most restrictive category, to Schedule III, which includes prescription drugs such as ketamine, anabolic steroids, and Tylenol with codeine. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves new cannabis-based medications, they will likewise be listed in Schedule III under Blanche's order.

That change leaves federal marijuana prohibition essentially untouched. It does not legalize marijuana, even for medical use, which would require FDA approval of specific products. But it recognizes that marijuana's Schedule I status is not scientifically justified, as critics of the war on weed have been arguing for half a century, and it should facilitate medical research. It is also a financial boon to state-licensed suppliers of medical marijuana, allowing them to deduct standard business expenses when they file their federal income tax returns.

"The Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump's promise to expand Americans' access to medical treatment options," Blanche said. "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."

Blanche's order is narrower than the change that Trump envisioned in December, when he instructed Pam Bondi, then the attorney general, to "complete the rulemaking process" required to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II "in the most expeditious manner" allowed by federal law. Blanche said the broader change, which would reclassify marijuana in general, won't be completed until after the Drug........

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