BALTIMORE — Changes could soon be coming to the cannabis industry after new action by the White House.
On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order ordering the Attorney General’s Office to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug “in the most expeditious manner in accordance with Federal law” citing the medicinal benefits of the drug.
Schedule I drugs, under the Controlled Substances Act, are considered to have the highest potential for abuse without an accepted medical benefit. Think ecstasy, heroin, LSD and psychedelics.
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They come with high restrictions.
Jeff Jacobson, CEO and founder of Storehouse Cannabis Dispensary, says cannabis businesses have faced a different burden to bear than other industries because of it, despite marijuana’s legal status in Maryland.
“We’re the only business [industry] in the country that can’t write off regular business expenses like rent and payroll and accountants and legal,” he explained. “So you’ll have situations where companies in this industry can actually lose money and have a tax bill on top of it.”
Though the executive order does not make it a done deal. But experts say reclassifying the drug would change things.
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“We felt that it was unfair along the way. This is certainly a relief and something we’ve been looking forward to,” Jacobson said.
The change would put cannabis in line with drugs like codeine with Tylenol, anabolic steroids, ketamine and buprenorphine, a treatment for opioid dependence, which have a lower potential for abuse and dependence.
The efforts to downgrade the seriousness of cannabis have been underway for awhile, but the formal process began under President Biden in 2024, leading to a proposal by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
But managing director of the Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy at the University of Maryland Mathew Swinburne says it was met with many legal hurdles.
“I think this executive order will be is essentially President Trump telling the Department of Justice and the DEA to get this process rolling,” Swinburne said.
The move would open the door for research, removing the hurdles that come with working with Schedule I drugs.
“They're just a hassle for a lot of researchers to deal with," researcher and assistant professor at UMD's School of Pharmacy Chad Johnson said.
Johnson explains labs have to obtain a license from the DEA, a lengthy and expensive process, and have to have added security measures.
“Not to mention you have to track everything down to the milligram precisely, reporting how much you're using, the products are very expensive, and on top of that, the DEA regulates how much of a Schedule I substance can be produced,” he added.
“I think this is a great step forward for ensuring that patients get access to cannabis as a medication. Patients have to break federal law to have access to these drugs,” associate dean at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Andrew Coop said.
Ultimately, it could mean turning the tide for public perception too though legalization under federal law, is still a work in progress.
