Yesterday, we asked whether the rumors were true. And the answer came straight from the Resolute Desk.
At a White House press conference on Monday morning, President Donald Trump said his administration is “looking at” moving marijuana from Schedule I, the same legal category as heroin, to the less restrictive Schedule III, and will “make a determination over the next few weeks.”
“It’s a very complicated subject,” Trump told reporters, according to Marijuana Moment. “Some people like it, some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana, because it does bad for the children and it does bad for people that are older than children. But we’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over the next few weeks, and that determination, hopefully, will be the right one.”
The president, a lifelong teetotaler, said he has “heard great things” about cannabis for medical purposes like pain, but “bad things” about just about everything else. It was a far cooler tone than the confident endorsement of rescheduling he gave on the campaign trail last year.
From Rumor to Reality
As we reported yesterday, the speculation started after The Wall Street Journal revealed that earlier this month, at a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club, Trump told donors — including Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers — that he was interested in the change.
Multiple outlets confirmed the exchange, and Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO James Hagedorn went on record saying Trump has told him “multiple times” since January that rescheduling is coming.
Monday’s comments are the first time the president has publicly addressed cannabis since taking office this term, and they place a clear timeline on a decision that has been stalled for months inside the federal bureaucracy.
The Push and the Pushback
The public timeline comes as political fault lines start to show. Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk posted that he hopes rescheduling “doesn’t happen” because “everything already smells like weed.”
In its August 12 policy briefing, THC Group read the moment this way:
“The president’s emphasis on medical applications while expressing concerns about broader use demonstrates sophisticated messaging designed to maintain conservative support by framing rescheduling as healthcare policy rather than drug liberalization… The Charlie Kirk opposition exposes the fundamental tension between Trump’s populist coalition and libertarian-leaning cannabis supporters.”
Industry Voices
For much of the cannabis sector, even a cautious public statement is progress.
Anthony Coniglio, CEO of NewLake Capital Partners, told High Times: “It would recognize medical utility, remove the punitive tax burden of Section 280E, open the door to research, and help distinguish compliant operators from illicit actors.”
Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor Financial, warned against seeing it as a full fix: “Rescheduling will not remove the federal banking and compliance barriers that keep most large financial institutions on the sidelines. Without congressional action like the SAFER Banking Act or STATES 2.0, many of the industry’s biggest financial challenges will remain.”
And from the advocacy and policy side, the U.S. Cannabis Roundtable called rescheduling a step that “would significantly expand research opportunities, unlock new treatment options for veterans and patients living with chronic conditions, and lay the groundwork for broader health system benefits rooted in evidence-based care.”
What Happens Next
Trump’s “next few weeks” clock starts now. The DEA’s review, initiated under President Biden, has been frozen by procedural appeals and could still face legal challenges from prohibitionist groups.
Even if the shift to Schedule III happens, it would not legalize cannabis federally or resolve the conflicts between state and federal law. As NORML and other advocates have stressed, full descheduling is the only way to end prohibition entirely.
For now, the president has moved the conversation from whispers at a fundraiser to a promise in front of the press corps. Whether that promise becomes history or just another Washington half-measure is what we’ll find out soon enough.
Photo: Shutterstock
