Where Things Stand Now
Last week, Republican lawmakers in Congress took a major step to block President Donald Trump’s potential move to reschedule marijuana. The GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill that would prohibit the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) from using federal funds to reschedule or deschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. This move comes as the Trump administration signals it is considering reclassifying cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, a change that would have significant implications for the industry and for federal-state relations.
The bill, advanced by the House Appropriations Committee, includes explicit language: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to reschedule marijuana… or to remove marijuana from the schedules established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act.” This provision, if enacted, would effectively freeze the ongoing federal review process and reserve the authority to change marijuana’s status exclusively for Congress, rather than the executive branch.