Although the U.S. federal government continues to consider marijuana as a Schedule I drug, with no recognized medical uses, it is increasingly changing its position. An entry in the Department of Agriculture’s plant database (USDA), for example, mentions that marijuana can be used to treat certain conditions. Cannabis sativa Medical uses
The entry can be found in Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. A USDA guide widely regarded as a source of reliable information about the connection between humans and plants, this database was developed by agency botanist James A. Duke. The database was developed by James A. Duke. It contains information about the chemical compounds that plants produce, their biological effects, and historical uses.
Schedule I, the federal category for substances “with no currently accepted medical purpose and a potential abuse,” is in direct conflict with USDA’s classification of cannabis.
The government is considering moving marijuana down the schedule. However, this process has been stuck since the last days of Biden’s administration and continues into the current term under President Donald Trump.
However, the view that cannabis cannot be used as a medicine is not universal. As part of the rescheduling recommendations made by the Department of Health and Human Services in 2023, cannabis was determined to have a medically accepted use in the United States and a lower potential for abuse than drugs and other substances listed in Schedules I and 2.
On its website, the National Institute on Drug Abuse acknowledges that “cannabis can be an effective treatment for some types of pain,” as well as that “emerging data suggest that it could have other therapeutic benefits.”
As for the USDA listing, it notes that THC—the chemical component of cannabis that puts it in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act—is associated with a variety of therapeutic actions, showing potential to treat pain, convulsions, spasticy, glaucoma, eating disorders and more.
Reformers say that the broad government position on cannabis as a medicine has become increasingly untenable, given growing evidence about its therapeutic potential.
“Scientific consensus has long challenged the federal government’s longstanding ‘Flat Earth’ position toward cannabis,” Paul Armentano, deputy director of the advocacy group NORML, told MEDCAN24.
“As society’s understanding of cannabis’s therapeutic utility has evolved, along with its medicinal use and acceptance among patients and health-care professionals,” he added in response to a question about the new USDA listing, “it is growing impossible for federal agencies to deny the reality that cannabis is medicine—even if the federal government, or specifically Congress, has yet to formally adopt this position.”
Interim executive director Lauren Daly of Marijuana Policy Project stated that the “growing recognition of cannabis’s medical benefits” is encouraging. However, it’s in sharp contrast with the Federal Government’s old-fashioned stance, which states that marijuana has no medical application.
“This disparity isn’t just hypocritical; it highlights the urgent need for the rescheduling process to move forward,” she told MEDCAN24 in a statement. It’s time that federal policies catch up with the fact cannabis has been used for medical purposes for many thousands of years.
Kat Murti (executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy) told MEDCAN24, that her group “is pleased to see USDA come to the exact same conclusion” as did the American Academy of Family Physicians and American Medical Student Association. The USDA also agreed with the National Academy of Sciences Institute Of Medicine, American Preventive Medical Association and United States Department of Health and Human Services.
“Marijuana as medicine.” She said that it is recommended by doctors for use in medicine to nearly 5 million Americans in about 30,000 states, including the District of Columbia. Marijuana does not belong on Schedule I of Controlled Substances Act. It is an absurd legal situation that contradicts both accepted practices and scientific evidence.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), again, informed an agency judge last week that the rescheduling of marijuana under Trump’s administration remains stalled.
John Mulrooney, DEA Administrative Law Judge and ALJ of the Controlled Substances Act with the Biden Administration has been temporarily halting hearings for six months. The proposal was to shift cannabis from Schedule I into Schedule III. The DEA and rescheduling supporters said in a Monday joint report that they are still stuck.
The Acting Administrator has not yet responded to Movants’ interlocutory request for reconsideration. The notice states that no briefing date has been established.
This was 90 days after the parties had sent the same update to the judge, but at a time when another acting administrator took charge.
In 90 days, DEA must update the appeal and provide an updated list of witnesses. Robert Murphy, acting administrator of the DEA, is expected to take action in the near future on the proposal rule.
Murphy’s appointment as acting administrator wasn’t widely publicized, but he’s replaced Derek Maltz—who subscribes to the “gateway drug” theory for marijuana— in the role as the Senate considers confirming President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Terrance Cole.
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.”
However, during an in-person hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, he said examining the rescheduling proposal will be “one of my first priorities” if he was confirmed for the role, saying it’s “time to move forward” on the stalled process—but again without clarifying what end result he would like to see.
Mulrooney, the agency judge, initially agreed to delay the proceedings after several pro-rescheduling parties requested a leave to file an interlocutory appeal amid allegations that certain DEA officials conspired with anti-rescheduling witnesses who were selected for the hearing.
The DEA judge initially agreed to delay the proceedings after several pro-rescheduling parties requested a leave to file an interlocutory appeal amid allegations that certain DEA officials conspired with anti-rescheduling witnesses who were selected for the hearing.
Originally, hearings were set to commence on January 21, but those were cancelled when Mulrooney granted the appeal motion. He instructed DEA to update the status of both parties within 90-days, or this Sunday.
This appeal was filed after the court denied a request that DEA be removed from the rescheduling process. They argued that DEA is incorrectly identified as “proponents” of proposed rules, given allegations about ex parte communication with witnesses who were against rescheduling. These communications “resulted into an irrevocable taint to the proceedings.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department told a federal court in January that it should pause a lawsuit challenging DEA’s marijuana rescheduling process after Mulrooney canceled the hearings.
Also in January, Mulrooney condemned DEA over its “unprecedented and astonishing” defiance of a key directive related to evidence it is seeking to use in the marijuana rescheduling proposal.
It was the DEA’s insistent digital submission of tens or thousands of public commentaries it had received as a response to DEA’s proposed rule for moving cannabis to Schedule 3.
Mulrooney didn’t hesitate to call out DEA on various procedural errors throughout this rescheduling.
For example, in December he criticized the agency for making a critical “blunder” in its effort to issue subpoenas to force Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials to testify in hearings—but he allowed the agency to fix the error and ultimately granted the request.
Relatedly, a federal judge also dismissed a lawsuit seeking to compel DEA to turn over its communications with an anti-cannabis organization.
Mulrooney had separately denied a cannabis research company’s request to allow it to add a young medical marijuana patient and advocate as a witness in the upcoming rescheduling hearing.
Also, one of the nation’s leading marijuana industry associations asked the judge to clarify whether it will be afforded the opportunity to cross-examine DEA during the upcoming hearings on the cannabis rescheduling proposal.
A coalition of health professionals that advocates for cannabis reform recently asked that the DEA judge halt future marijuana rescheduling hearings until a federal court is able to address a series of allegations they’re raising about the agency’s witness selection process.
Public interest in the rescheduling process has been high. The rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III would not make it federally legal, but the reform could allow licensed cannabis businesses access to federal tax deductions as well as remove some research obstacles.
Meanwhile, two GOP senators introduced a bill in February that would continue to block marijuana businesses from taking federal tax deductions under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code 280E—even if it’s ultimately rescheduled.
The new leadership of the DEA, under Trump’s administration, is another factor that complicates the situation.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services(HHS), has previously expressed his support of legalizing marijuana and psychedelic therapy. But during his Senate confirmation process in February, he said that he would defer to DEA on marijuana rescheduling in his new role.
Separately, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was reportedly photographed reviewing a document that appears to be a draft contract to provide services—including “administration-related guidance”—to a firm affiliated with the major marijuana company Trulieve. The visible portion of the document describes a lucrative bonus if a certain “matter resolves,” with an “additional ‘Super Success Fee'” for other “exclusive policy remedies.”
Late last month, the former congressman reiterated his own support for rescheduling cannabis—suggesting in an interview with a Florida Republican lawmaker that the GOP could win more of the youth vote by embracing marijuana reform.
Gaetz also said last month that Trump’s endorsement of a Schedule III reclassification was essentially an attempt to shore up support among young voters rather than a sincere reflection of his personal views about cannabis.
A survey conducted by a GOP pollster affiliated with Trump that was released in April found that a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms, including rescheduling. Notably, Republicans are even more supportive than the average voter of allowing state governments to legalize pot without federal interference.
Trump has chosen Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, to be his nominee for DOJ. The Senate has confirmed this decision. During her confirmation hearings, Bondi declined to say how she planned to navigate key marijuana policy issues. As attorney general of Florida, Bondi opposed the legalization of medical marijuana.
Amid the stalled marijuana rescheduling process that’s carried over from the last presidential administration, congressional researchers recently reiterated that lawmakers could enact the reform themselves with “greater speed and flexibility” if they so choose, while potentially avoiding judicial challenges.
Meanwhile, a newly formed coalition of professional athletes and entertainers, led by retired boxer Mike Tyson, sent a letter to Trump on Friday—thanking him for past clemency actions while emphasizing the opportunity he has to best former President Joe Biden by rescheduling marijuana, expanding pardons and freeing up banking services for licensed cannabis businesses.