President Donald Trump said his administration is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
“We’re looking at reclassification and we’ll make a determination over the next few weeks,” Trump said at press conference August 11.
Though 45 states have legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, the federal government still classifies it as a Schedule I drug.
In 2022, then-President Joe Biden asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration to review how marijuana is scheduled. In 2023, Health and Human Services recommended that marijuana be moved to Schedule III. In 2024, DEA proposed a rule to transfer marijuana to Schedule III. That rule change has been on hold since March 2025.
Reclassifying marijuana would be the biggest change in marijuana policy the federal government has taken since the drug was first outlawed, but it would not make recreational usage legal under federal law.
Marijuana has been a Schedule I drug– defined as believed highly dangerous, addictive and without medical use – since the Controlled Substances Act was signed in 1970.
If rescheduled as Schedule III, marijuana would be treated the same as drugs like Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, which can be prescribed by licensed health care providers and dispensed by licensed pharmacies.
Trump said the decision is complicated, weighing the benefits of marijuana use for medical reasons against potential societal impacts.
“Some people like it, some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana,” he said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he’s looking at reclassifying marijuana at federal level
