President Donald Trump reportedly told attendees at a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser in New Jersey earlier this month that he was contemplating reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. He has since confirmed that the reclassification is on the table.
One of Trump’s most outspoken supporters has expressed hope that the president will ultimately decide against easing restrictions on cannabis.
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Since 1970, cannabis has been listed as a Schedule I drug, a category of drugs the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration claims “have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence” as well as “no currently accepted medical use.”
The Wall Street Journal indicated that the fundraiser conversation earlier this month was “part of a campaign by cannabis companies to persuade Trump to pick up where the Biden team left off and reclassify the drug” to a Schedule III substance, which would mean not only fewer federal restrictions but also big tax breaks for marijuana companies.
Among those reportedly in attendance at the fundraiser were Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla; cryptocurrency executives; political advisers close to the president; and Kim Rivers, the CEO of the marijuana giant Trulieve, which donated $750,000 to Trump’s inauguration.
Unnamed individuals who attended the fundraiser told the Journal that when Rivers personally encouraged Trump to reclassify the drug, the president flagged the matter for those staff members present.
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The matter of reclassification has evidently been on Trump’s radar for some time.
ScottsMiracle-Gro CEO James Hagedorn told Fox Business last week that Trump has told him and others “multiple times” that he will reclassify marijuana.
When Trump threw his support last year behind an unsuccessful Florida constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, the then-candidate vowed that if re-elected, he would “continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug.”
After he announced the federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Trump was asked to square his crackdown on crime and drugs with the reports that he might soon reclassify marijuana.
‘Any cannabis use is associated with a 40% increased risk of psychosis.’
Trump said, “We’re looking at it. Some people like it. Some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because … it does bad for the children, it does bad for people that are older than children. But we’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over the … next few weeks.”
The president noted that it is a “very complicated subject” and that he has heard “great things having to do with medical” and “bad things having to do with just about everything else.”
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Trump ally and Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk wrote in response to the Journal’s report, “I hope this doesn’t happen.”
“We need to protect public spaces for kids. Everything already smells like weed, which is ridiculous,” continued Kirk, who questioned the value of legalizing marijuana and raised concern over the drug’s significant increase in potency during his April interview with liberal polemicist Bill Maher.
“Let’s make it harder to ruin public spaces, not easier,” added Kirk.
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Kirk is not alone in hoping that Trump will decide against reclassification.
Luke Niforatos, executive vice president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told Blaze News, “President Trump said today that he has heard a lot of bad things about marijuana. And for good reason.”
“Rescheduling marijuana will mean more crime, more homelessness, and more destruction of mental health,” continued Niforatos. “We need a strong generation of Americans. Rescheduling marijuana gives the Big Weed oligarchy a multibillion-dollar tax break so they can peddle more high-octane THC products that give our kids and our young adults schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly three in 10 people who consume cannabis have cannabis use disorder, which manifests in part as craving cannabis; trying but proving unable to quit using cannabis; using cannabis even though it causes problems at home, work, or school; using cannabis in high-risk situations; and using increasing amounts of the drug to achieve the same high.
The Canadian government, which legalized marijuana nationwide in 2018, claims that “any cannabis use is associated with a 40% increased risk of psychosis” and “earlier-onset cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of earlier-onset psychosis, with cannabis users under the age of 16 at greater risk of developing psychosis or schizophrenia.”
Cannabis use has been linked to other health conditions besides dependency and psychosis.
‘States that have legalized the drug have launched a panoply of cartel violence.’
For instance, a systematic review published on May 5 in JAMA concluded with moderate confidence on the basis of 51 studies with over 21.1 million participants that cannabis use during pregnancy can result in early births, low birth weights, and unusually small babies.
Blaze News previously reported that the review also indicated significantly increased odds of miscarriages.
Paul Larkin, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, recently argued in JAMA Psychiatry against the Biden Department of Health and Human Services’ 2023 recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration that it reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug.
Larkin and Dr. Bertha Madras noted that HHS failed to properly address the adverse effects of cannabis use such as the high prevalence of cannabis use disorder among users and the mounting evidence linking marijuana use to psychosis.
They also noted that “there is no medical consensus that cannabis is a legitimate medical treatment” and that “the evidence supporting generic ‘cannabis’ as a treatment for medical conditions remains either low quality or nonexistent.”
When pressed for comment, HHS told Blaze News, “HHS continues to follow gold-standard science when determining the safety and efficacy of drugs.”
“The president should consider that no major law enforcement or medical association supports scheduling marijuana down to III, because it is a public safety and public health nightmare,” Niforatos told Blaze News.
“States that have legalized the drug have launched a panoply of cartel violence, Chinese CCP influence, and mental health carnage. Rescheduling marijuana gives a gigantic financial reward in the form of a tax break to cartels and the giant marijuana operators, like Glass House, the marijuana company ICE recently raided,” added Niforatos.
Marijuana has been legalized for medical use in 48 states plus the District of Columbia and legalized for recreational purposes in at least 24 states — a push aided by the drug’s normalization in and by the media.
Gallup revealed in November that the number of Americans who reported smoking marijuana had more than doubled since 2013, up to 15% from 7%. Whereas only 4% of respondents polled in 1969 reported trying marijuana, 47% of respondents reported trying the drug when asked last year.
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Marijuana, Weed, Chronic, Drugs, Drug abuse, Addiction, Mental health, Health, Maha, Charlie kirk, Drug use, Politics
