Kentucky’s governor has called on Donald Trump to reject the congressional spending provisions which would stop Justice Department from redistributing marijuana.
In a recent letter to Trump, Governor. Andy Beshear(D) emphasized the fact that you “supported” a pending plan to move marijuana from Schedule I into Schedule III in accordance with the Controlled Substances Act.
This process must be allowed to run its course. Americans deserve leaders who will not change their goalposts in the middle. Beshear added that Beshear had been one of the thousands to have submitted comments on the reform initiated by the Biden Administration, “demonstrating a broad public interest” in rescheduling.
“I am here to help,” I said. “Rescheduling will provide the suffering patients with the relief they require,” said the Governor. “It would ensure communities are safer—because legal medical products reduce the illicit market. This would allow for new and meaningful health research.
Beshear mentioned a letter he sent to DEA last year urging rescheduling “because marijuana is now firmly in the public’s hands.” It is a medical benefit.”
The governor stated that rescheduling is “common sense”. Over 40 states have now medical marijuana programs. Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree on this issue, including in Kentucky, where you won a vast majority of the vote in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and where a Republican supermajority passed legislation legalizing medical marijuana in 2023—legislation that I signed into law. “The federal government is far behind in this area and needs to finally catch up.”
He referred to a comment made in 2024 by Trump, the then-candidate, who said: “Under my administration, we will continue our focus on researching to unlock medical marijuana’s potential as a Schedule 3 substance, and working with Congress, to pass common sense legislation.”
Now is the time to deliver on what you promised to Americans.
Beshear referred to language in the House Committee-approved Bill that prohibits DOJ from rescheduling marijuana, saying “this isn’t a law of common sense.”
He said: “It stops an already-underway process to achieve a policy goal that has been overwhelmingly supported both by medical and scientific communities, as well as American citizens of all political parties.” The Congress should not remove the decision making process from the medical and scientific community when the experts don’t agree with the outcome.
“I hope that your action on this issue matches the promises you made to the American people to support rescheduling and work with Congress to ensure laws passed are truly ‘common sense,'” the governor said. “I urge you again to oppose House Appropriations Committee’s proposed language that would prevent the DEA from rescheduling cannabis.”
Below is the full text of Beshear’s request to the President:
“SEC. 607. The funds made available or appropriated by this Act cannot be used to redistribute marijuana, as defined in the Controlled Substances Act section 102 (21 U.S.C. The funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may not be used to reschedule marijuana (as such term is defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (2 U.S.C. 812).”
Regardless of the appropriations bill, the rescheduling process is currently sitting in limbo—especially since the DEA judge overseeing the process has now announced he’ll be retiring at the end of the month, leaving the issue to newly confirmed DEA Administrator Terrance Cole.
Notably, while Cole has said that examining the rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” if he was confirmed for the role, he has refused to say what he wants the result to be and has in the past made comments expressing concerns about the health effects of cannabis.
In May, a Senate committee advanced the nomination of Cole to become DEA administrator amid the ongoing review of the marijuana rescheduling proposal that he has so far refused to commit to enacting.
Cole—who has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth—said in response to senators’ written questions that he would “give the matter careful consideration after consulting with appropriate personnel within the Drug Enforcement Administration, familiarizing myself with the current status of the regulatory process, and reviewing all relevant information.”
DEA notified DEA Administrative Law Judgment John Mulrooney earlier in the month that marijuana rescheduling remains stalled during the Trump Administration.
Mulrooney has temporarily halted the hearings for a proposed move to Schedule III from Schedule I of the CSA, which was started under Biden’s administration. In a report submitted to the court on Monday by DEA lawyers and rescheduling advocates, they said that there is still no agreement.
Beshear’s focus in the last few years has been on cannabis reform at state levels.
The governor recently hailed “another landmark” in Kentucky’s upcoming medical marijuana program. A licensed grower produced “the first medical Cannabis inventory in Kentucky History.”
The governor previewed the development late last month, stating that he expected to see medical marijuana growers “putting seed in the ground really soon,” while projecting that patients will have access to cannabis before the year’s end.