By Aaron Navarro, Joe Walsh | CBS News
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday that would reschedule marijuana to a lower drug classification, according to two sources familiar with the planning, in one of the most significant changes to drug policy in decades.
One source cautioned that while the plan is for the order to be signed Thursday, the timing could shift.
The order is expected to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Schedule I applies to substances with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” — the agency’s most stringent classification, which is also for heroin, LSD and ecstasy in addition to marijuana.
The DEA uses Schedule III for substances “with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” Other Schedule III drugs include Tylenol with codeine, testosterone, anabolic steroids and ketamine
Moving the drug to a lower schedule would not change the fact that it remains illegal for recreational use at the federal level. But it could open the door to more research into marijuana and expanded medical uses. It might also lower the tax burden for state-licensed marijuana dispensaries in the dozens of states that have legalized the drug, since federal law bars businesses that sell Schedule I substances from taking some tax deductions.
