President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 18 directing relevant federal agencies to begin the process of rescheduling marijuana from the more restrictive Schedule I classification to the more lenient Schedule III listing. It’s a move that will not benefit him politically, will actively harm some of his most fervent supporters, and undermine both his anti-drug and anti-crime efforts.
Trump is rarely one to copy the failed policies of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. But his order restarts a regulatory process begun by Biden in 2022, when he ordered the Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration to begin reviewing marijuana’s legal status. These reports were then forwarded to the Justice Department, where then-Attorney General Merrick Garland began a rulemaking in 2024. The DEA scheduled public hearings on the matter for the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, but those were suspended after Trump won reelection.
Trump could have easily allowed those scheduled DEA hearings to move forward, but it appears there are significant elements within his administration that do not want to continue the Democratic Party’s steady march to full legalization. Trump has often signaled he supports the marijuana industry, promising to look at reclassification if reelected and supporting Florida’s marijuana legalization ballot measure in 2024. But he earlier called Colorado’s marijuana legalization “bad,” correctly noting that it has led to more traffic accidents in the state and adding that the drug “does cause an IQ problem.”
The evidence against marijuana liberalization is strong, and as the regulatory process moves forward, Trump would be wise to listen to its critics.
Marijuana is far more addictive than its proponents claim, especially because its average potency has quadrupled since 1990. Everywhere marijuana has been legalized, use and abuse have gone up, including the hospitalization of children, who often ingest the candy-like edibles many users enjoy. Marijuana use is strongly associated with increased cases of schizophrenia, heart attacks, laziness, lower educational attainment, higher rates of unemployment, higher rates of welfare use, higher crime, reduced brain activity, and reduced memory. Of particular importance for Vice President JD Vance, who wants Americans to have more babies, marijuana also causes miscarriages and premature birth in women, and infertility in men.
While Trump’s proposed rescheduling of marijuana would not fully legalize the drug, it would unlock tax benefits and allow the future commercialization of a highly addictive and harmful product. Marijuana proponents say rescheduling would allow more research to be done on the so-called medical benefits of marijuana, but plenty of research has already been completed, and the results are not encouraging. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a comprehensive review of the available research and concluded, “Evidence from randomized clinical trials does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most conditions for which it is promoted, such as acute pain and insomnia.” The only benefit the study found was “a moderate effect on increasing body weight” for some HIV/AIDS patients, and even then, many other real medicines are available.
GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY JOBS REPORT
It’s true that the public supports legalizing marijuana, but as its dangers have become apparent, support has declined, particularly among Republicans. While 68% of former Vice President Kamala Harris’s supporters between the ages of 18 and 45 say marijuana legalization has led to more social benefits than costs, 59% of Trump voters the same age say the opposite. Opposition to marijuana legalization is even stronger among older Republican voters. The bottom line is that the people who support marijuana legalization are hardcore Democrats who will never vote for Republicans, while those who support Trump’s anti-drug law and order message would be betrayed.
The dangers caused by marijuana legalization, including lost brain function, lower educational attainment, higher unemployment, and laziness, would all affect young men the most because they are the most frequent marijuana users. Throughout his campaign, Trump promised a healthier and safer America. He has shut down the southern border and deployed the National Guard to high-crime cities to fulfill that promise. Rescheduling marijuana, thus allowing the further commercialization and use of the drug, would undermine both those goals while benefiting no one but drug pushers.