JUST IN: Trump Reclassifies Marijuana For Medical Use, Stops Short of Full Legalization
· Yahoo NewsGenerate Key Takeaways
President Donald Trump reclassified marijuana on Thursday from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III controlled substance “with legitimate medical uses” in an executive order, stopping short of fully legalizing the drug.
Under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a Schedule I drug has “high potential for abuse” and “no accepted medical use in the U.S.” They include drugs like heroin, LSD, and MDMA.
Trump made the announcement from the Oval Office.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
“We have people begging for me to do this,” Trump said, adding, “People that are in great pain. For decades, this action has been requested by American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems, and more, including numerous veterans with service-related injuries and older Americans who live with chronic medical problems that severely degrade their quality of life.”
He continued, “And it’s so so really, I mean, I can’t tell you. I think I probably have received more phone calls on this, on doing what we’re doing. I don’t think I received any calls on the other side of it.”
Also on hand for the signing were Health and Human Services Chief Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Medicaid-Medicare head Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Kennedy claimed that the reclassification will allow testing that hasn’t been possible before.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
“There are valid claims about the negative impacts of addiction, about psychosis, about adverse public health impacts, and impacts particularly on young people,” Kennedy said. “So we haven’t — the evidence on all of this is echoed when it’s hypothetical because we have not been able to do scientific studies. There is no standardized dosing, and if you don’t have standardized dosing, any studies you do is comparing apples to pears, and we don’t know the difference between botanicals and synthetics, and all these questions we can now answer.”
Not all Republicans were happy with the order.
Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) posted to X, “Growing the marijuana industry endangers the health and safety of Americans. The only winners from rescheduling will be bad actors like Communist China and drug traffickers. I led a letter with 22 of my Senate colleagues voicing concerns about marijuana rescheduling.”
Other signers included Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
The post JUST IN: Trump Reclassifies Marijuana For Medical Use, Stops Short of Full Legalization first appeared on Mediaite.