President Trump recently called marijuana policy “very complicated” while noting he had “heard great things” about medical marijuana.

He is right on both counts — medical cannabis policy is complex, but the benefits are undeniable. With the right leadership, it is a challenge worth tackling.

He’s not alone in this view. Former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), who once blocked Washington, D.C., from implementing medical cannabis laws, recently argued that marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug “creates major barriers for researchers and doctors,” and that the idea cannabis has “no known medical use” is “clearly outdated.”  

Barr added that cutting red tape would support hundreds of thousands of jobs and advance therapeutic breakthroughs.

Just weeks ago, a coalition of more than 40 patient organizations (including my organization), representing tens of millions of Americans, urged appropriators in an open letter to maintain protections for medical programs, calling medical marijuana programs “a lifeline for millions of Americans.”

The letter called for “comprehensive, permanent federal legislation” to “align federal cannabis policy with state laws and integrate medical cannabis into mainstream healthcare,” and urged the maintenance of the “Medical Cannabis Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.”

If the Drug Enforcement Agency follows the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation to move cannabis to Schedule III, it will become........

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