The Trump administration has finally signed an order to reschedule cannabis as a schedule III drug, removing it from a classification reserved for narcotics deemed to have no therapeutic value.
Acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, signed the order yesterday, writing on X that the Department of Justice was “delivering on President Trump’s promise to improve American healthcare”.
“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche wrote in the social media post.
President Trump, who had flagged the reclassification of cannabis in December, earlier accused officials of “sleepwalking” though the process.
While the move does not federally legalise cannabis, commentators said it will send a signal to global markets – including Australia – that the risks posed by cannabis are small and that its medical benefits, and potential, are legitimate.
The move, which had been flagged by President Joe Biden as early as 2022 when he ordered a review into the reclassification of cannabis, will open up research and could ease some financial and banking restraints which have hamstrung companies and the wider industry.
However, while US cannabis stocks initially jumped between 6% and 13%, they quickly fell back as the market began to understand the limited practical effect the reclassification will have.
Yet the signal it sends about cannabis and its potential therapeutic benefits will still give the industry a boost.
Tilray Brands chairman and chief executive Irwin D Simon described it as a “pivotal moment for the United States”.
“Federal policy is finally aligning with science, medicine, and most importantly, patient need,” he said. “This is about people: patients fighting cancer, seniors managing chronic pain, veterans navigating PTSD, and children with epilepsy whose families have long sought safe, effective options.
“For decades, they have turned to medical cannabis. Today, the system begins to catch up with them. Rescheduling has the potential to accelerate clinical research, broaden access, and elevate the quality, consistency, and safety standards that establish medical cannabis as a legitimate pillar of modern healthcare.”
Little Green Pharma chief executive Paul Long previously described the reclassification as a “global landmark policy moment” that acknowledges the legitimate medical use of cannabis and “removes long-standing regulatory obstacles to research and clinical development”.
“It will, I believe, have positive spill over effects for medicinal cannabis companies in the larger medicinal-driven markets like Australia and Europe by accelerating research, attracting investment, and supporting integration into mainstream healthcare,” he said in December.
