President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the Justice Department to accelerate the reclassification of marijuana, a move framed as expanding medical research without federally legalizing the drug.
The order follows weeks of sustained lobbying by cannabis industry executives, including Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, and would shift marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, easing federal restrictions while leaving recreational use and criminal penalties unchanged. Shares of major U.S. cannabis companies rose on the announcement, with firms like Canopy Growth climbing nearly 12 percent in one day. Canopy Growth is up more than 60 percent this month since Trump began to weigh rescheduling.
The move follows steps taken under President Joe Biden, who issued mass pardons and ordered federal records for marijuana possession offenses be expunged, while stopping short of broader legalization.
At the signing, Trump said he had been inundated with calls urging the change, citing its potential to help patients. “We have people begging for me to do this. People that are in great pain,” he said.
The journalist Saagar Enjeti alleged Thursday that the administration privately undercut its public rationale for the move, claiming officials on an internal call acknowledged weak evidence for medical marijuana while conceding the rescheduling would deliver a significant tax benefit to large cannabis donors.
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