I wrote about this last December, but now that (some) cannabis has actually been rescheduled, from Schedule I to Schedule III, let’s revisit.
President Biden started the ball rolling in 2022 and in 2024; the Justice Department formalized the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to III. Last year, President Trump directed the DOJ to act on his Executive Order on rescheduling. In late April of this year, the acting Attorney General announced they had begun acting upon the executive order.
While this is the biggest move in cannabis policy in decades, it bears repeating that rescheduling is very different from descheduling. And the manner in which it’s happening is important to know as well, as this looks to be somewhat different from what many of us expected.
First, this will happen in phases, not all at once. For now, only medical marijuana products in states with regulated programs will move from I to III. On June 29, per Marijuana Moment “. . . there will be a new expedited administrative hearing process to consider the broader rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III” and “will conclude not later than July 15.”
Nothing will change for Adult Use/Recreational cannabis right away, including the much sought after tax relief from 280E. Arguably the biggest winner will be cannabis research, as researchers will now be able to purchase high quality cannabis from licensed producers. This is huge, as previously, only the infamously bad trash weed produced by the University of Mississippi was allowed to be used by researchers receiving federal money.
Accelerating access to psychedelics
In April, Trump signed an Executive Order for the research of psychedelics, with a goal of developing treatments for numerous mental health conditions, as well as traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
As someone who has relied heavily upon microdosing psilocybin to get through this administration, I applaud this move.
As Time explains, the order directs the FDA to “. . . direct their attention to determining what psychedelics might be given vouchers for accelerated consideration on the path to approval. The manufacturers of these substances would have the option of having their dossiers of supporting evidence examined by regulators within 1 or 2 months, rather than 6 to 12 months more typical of the FDA approval process.”
Psychedelics such as LSD, Psilocibin, MDMA, and ibogaine will be studied with the goal of addressing treatment resistant depression, PTSD, and Traumatic Brain Injuries. The Executive Order is also, per Marijuana Moment “. . . making $50 million available to support state-level research on ibogaine and is “opening a pathway for the substance to be administered to desperately ill patients under the Right to Try law.”
This is a major move for a sitting President to discuss and support psychedelics, albeit in the scope of medical treatments, and not a weekend at the Sphere. Anything furthering the discussion is welcome, and it was none other than podcaster Joe Rogan who took credit for Trump’s actions.
Rogan has long been a proponent of ibogaine, a South African shrub used to treat Depression, PTSD and TBI. He recounts texting Trump the potential for treating addiction with ibogaine, and getting a rapid reply from Trump reading, “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.”
Rogan stated that studies show those with opiate addictions were seeing success of up to 90% with just two doses. Although as Time writes “…Ibogaine can cause fatal cardiac arrhythmias, however, and research on it was halted in the U.S. in the 1990s. Studies elsewhere in the world, including in Mexico, where ibogaine clinics operate, have been relatively small.”
The levels of suicide, PTSD and addiction issues for military veterans is cited as a motivating factor for Trump as well. In a White House fact sheet, they write “. . . For over 20 years, there have been more than 6,000 veteran suicides per year” and “. . . The suicide rate among veterans is more than twice as high as that of the non-veteran adult population … .”
Of course, any time plant medicine is legitimized, there’s an inherent risk that it will be patented, controlled, and monetized as a commodity by billion dollar pharmaceutical companies. But for now, recognize that some true good will happen as well.
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