Conservatives revolt against Trump plan to roll back weed punishments
President Donald Trump is considering dramatically changing cannabis regulation in the US, which is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of some conservatives.
The president is weighing rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule III controlled substance, which would allow for cannabis to be studied and for cannabis companies to access traditional banking and financial systems.
‘We are considering that, yeah,’ the president said Monday when asked if he’s considering reclassification. ‘A lot of people want to see it, the reclassification. It leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify.’
The president had a phone call with Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services boss Mehmet Oz and cannabis industry executives to speak about rescheduling last week, the Washington Post reported.
Six sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that Trump may soon lighten the regulations around cannabis to make it more in line with other Schedule III substances, like the painkiller Codeine and the anesthetic Ketamine.
Speaker Johnson, a conservative Christian from Louisiana, a state with strict cannabis regulations where the substance is only legal for medical use, reportedly pushed back on the plan on the call with Trump, sources told The Post.
Johnson presented the president with data and studies that highlighted his opposition to deregulating cannabis.
‘A lot of people want to see it, the reclassification. It leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify. So we’re looking at that very strongly,’ Trump said on Monday
Reclassifying cannabis will enable the drug to be studied more thoroughly. It would also enable cannabis businesses to access traditional banking systems they currently do not have permission to use
Some Trump supporters have urged the president to take action on what has typically been seen as a liberal cause
Despite his reported call with Johnson, Trump seemed keen on pushing forward with the plan to reschedule, sources familiar with the call shared.
Though the president may face pushback from his right flank.
Support for cannabis legalization among Republicans has deteriorated rapidly in recent years.
Just 40 percent of Republicans supported cannabis legalization in a recent Gallup survey, down 15 points from 2023.
‘Rescheduling marijuana is bad policy, no matter the administration,’ Texas Republican Congressman Pete Sessions said in a statement after Trump noted he’s looking into cannabis reclassification.
Sessions, along with eight other GOP congressmen, co-signed a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging against rescheduling.
‘The data is clear: marijuana is a dangerous drug that has only become more dangerous over time. That is why I have spent my entire career in Congress opposing the rescheduling of marijuana.’
The letter was sent out shortly after the president indicated he is ‘looking into’ reclassifying the drug.
‘Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because it does bad for the children, it does bad for the people that are older than children,’ Trump said in August.
President Donald Trump is considering rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I controlled substance to a Schedule III substance. Some Republican lawmakers have pushed back on the proposal
The president’s position on cannabis has changed over the years.
When he first stepped onto the political scene in 2016, Trump favored letting states decide their own regulations, though he consistently supported the medical use of cannabis.
The Republican did not make many reforms in the space during his first term, however.
Now, it appears the president is keen on significant rescheduling reform.
Still, the president is considering all of his options, and no final decision has been made yet, an official told the Daily Mail.
