Why Conservatives are Right to Push for Rescheduling Cannabis

For years, the process to reschedule cannabis has been tangled in bureaucratic red tape. On October 6, 2022, former President Joe Biden announced his administration’s goal to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. Since then, little movement has resulted from the announcement. With the Biden Administration lacking the capabilities to follow through on this promise and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continuing to slow-walk legal proceedings around the issue, the conversation has been reviewed since President Donald Trump took office, with the hope that his administration can finish what the Biden administration couldn’t.

The change is a simple win for American industry as well as American patients. Moving cannabis to Schedule III would no longer categorize marijuana with heroin, LSD, and ecstasy but instead as a drug with medical benefits much like other pain relievers. There is no reason cannabis should be classified similarly to these far more dangerous drugs, with which it shares few traits in common. Cannabis is already used to treat chronic pain, epilepsy, seizure disorders, as well as sleeping disorders. It’s an alternative, and potentially less addictive, pain reliever, which is why even our nation’s veterans request it to relieve pain from war injuries or address side effects of PTSD.

Unfortunately, even with many Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors recognizing the benefits of marijuana in treating PTSD and other ailments, they often refrain from prescribing the drug because it remains in Schedule I and, therefore, isn’t covered by VA plans. If rescheduled, veterans and all patients struggling with chronic pain or other issues would gain access to more treatment options with a potentially vast array of therapeutic benefits.

In addition to the benefits for medicine and research that rescheduling could foster, the marijuana industry is a thriving and growing sector that can benefit our country economically. The industry supported about 440,445 jobs in 2023, and US cannabis sales reached over $31 billion in 2024.

With these clear benefits, rescheduling cannabis to a Schedule III drug seems to be a common-sense policy and an easy win for President Trump.

The Trump Administration must fulfill its promise to promote economic prosperity and American medical innovation. Rescheduling would be a step in the right direction to encourage economic growth, foster ground-breaking medical research, and empower consumers, veterans, and other American patients to explore alternative and possibly cost-saving treatment options.