Despite millions of dollars spent by the marijuana industry, the Trump administration is cracking down on the drug, closing loopholes that have let the industry expand banefully in states that have not legalized it, and stepping up prosecutions of those who use it on federal lands.
This summer, reports surfaced that President Donald Trump had been telling donors he was considering moving marijuana from Schedule I — the strictest category under the Controlled Substances Act — to Schedule III, a lower tier that includes drugs such as ketamine and codeine. Such a shift would make marijuana easier to use legally and open financing options for the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry. This came after Trump endorsed a Florida ballot measure that would have legalized the drug in 2024.
But not only has there been no rescheduling announcement, but the legislation that ended the government shutdown this week also included a provision closing a loophole that inadvertently legalized certain marijuana products in all 50 states.
Language in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 was intended to allow the growing of hemp for use in rope and clothing products while keeping psychoactive versions of the plant illegal. But the text of the statute kept only the most common form of THC illegal. Creative marijuana enthusiasts were able to develop hemp plants with high levels of other forms of THC that had been unintentionally made legal. Hemp products with these alternative forms of THC, still as dangerous as regular THC, rapidly became a $3 billion industry.
The government funding bill that passed on Wednesday closed the loophole by banning the possession and sale of hemp with any type of THC in it. THC-infused drinks and edibles will soon disappear from convenience stores and smoke shops nationwide. Good riddance.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming also announced this week that, thanks to a Justice Department guidance memo sent in September, it would begin “rigorously” prosecuting people arrested for possession of marijuana on federal lands. The new Trump marijuana guidance comes after a Biden administration memo directed U.S. Attorneys not to prosecute marijuana possession cases.
Evidence that marijuana is far more harmful than industry proponents want you to believe was strong in 2018. It has only grown stronger since then. Marijuana use contributes to more car crashes and has been linked to higher rates of schizophrenia and lasting brain damage. Studies show the drug is far more addictive than advocates suggest. It is now three times stronger than it once was, and its use and abuse have risen in every state that has legalized it.
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Before endorsing Florida’s marijuana ballot measure in 2024, Trump had been a strong opponent of the harmful drug. In 2015, he told the Conservative Political Action Conference that Colorado’s legalization of marijuana was “bad,” an assessment he still held in 2018 when he correctly noted that, “in Colorado, they have more accidents,” adding, “it does cause an IQ problem.”
The Trump administration’s renewed focus on marijuana enforcement is a welcome correction after years of industry expansion and Biden administration weakness. By shutting down the hemp-THC loophole and restoring federal prosecutions, Trump is reasserting a needed distinction between public health and corporate profit. He was right to question legalization years ago, and he is right to rein it in now. Voters who care about safety, health, and accountability will be grateful for the effort.