{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/trump-signs-order-loosen-federal-restrictions-marijuana-its-still-illegal", "Trump signs order to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, but it\u2019s still illegal", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "H001079", "www.hydesmith.senate.gov", "hydesmith", "https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/newsroom", "scraper", "By Jacob Fischler\n\nPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, which Trump said reflected the drug\u2019s potential medical benefits while discouraging recreational use.\n\nThe order moves cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III on the Federal Drug Administration\u2019s list of controlled substances. Schedule I, the most restrictive category under federal law, indicates a high likelihood of abuse and no accepted medical value.\n\nTrump said the move reflected that cannabis could have medicinal value, even if abuse was still possible.\n\nThe order \u201cdoesn't legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug,\u201d Trump said. \u201cJust as the prescription painkillers may have legitimate uses, but can also do irreversible damage \u2026 it's never safe to use powerful controlled substances in recreational matters.\u201d\n\nStill, the order marks a major step in the decades-long liberalization of cannabis policy.\n\nSince 2012, when Washington and Colorado voters legalized personal marijuana use, 22 other states have legalized at least some form of recreational use. Only 10 states still restrict both medicinal and recreational use.\n\nIn a statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, praised Trump while calling for further reforms to bring federal law into harmony with states where the drug is legal.\n\n\u201cI thank the President and am pleased that they are finally taking this step to begin the process to reschedule,\u201d Polis wrote. \u201cColorado\u2019s cannabis industry is the gold standard ensuring that products are safe and regulated. It\u2019s good to see the federal government finally following suit, but it\u2019s frustrating it\u2019s taken this long and there is much more to do for a full descheduling,\u201d\n\nPresident Joe Biden started the process for rescheduling the drug last year.\n\nMedical angle\n\nA group of administration officials and medical doctors flanked Trump during the Oval Office signing, with some speaking to the potential medical benefits of marijuana, including as an alternative to highly addictive opioid painkillers.\n\n\u201cThe facts compel the federal government to recognize that marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when carefully administered,\u201d Trump said.\n\nResearching the potential benefits of marijuana is nearly impossible because of the tight restrictions on Schedule I substances, advocates have argued.\n\nRemoving cannabis from Schedule I would help ease those restrictions, Trump said.\n\n\u201cThis reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments,\u201d he said. \u201cIt's going to have a tremendously positive impact.\u201d\n\nIn addition to researchers, the split between federal law and the legal landscape in many states has created challenges for the industry, users and law enforcement, among others.\n\nFor example, the unusual position of state-legal businesses in a federally banned industry means they cannot use certain tax provisions, access some banking instruments or transport their product across state lines.\n\nIn a lengthy statement, Paul Armentano, the deputy director of leading marijuana legalization organization National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, offered qualified praise for the move, saying it \u201cvalidates the experience\u201d of patients who have used marijuana to treat chronic pain and other conditions.\n\n\u201cThis directive certainly marks a long overdue change in direction,\u201d Armentano said. \u201cBut while such a move potentially provides some benefits to patients, and veterans especially, it still falls well short of the changes necessary to bring federal marijuana policy into the 21st century. Specifically, rescheduling fails to harmonize federal marijuana policy with the cannabis laws of most states.\u201d\n\nThe reclassification could provide tax relief to many marijuana businesses, he added.\n\nGOP senators opposed move\n\nMany Republicans in Congress remain opposed to legalizing marijuana.\n\nIn a letter dated Wednesday, 24 Senate Republicans urged Trump not to reclassify marijuana, which they said had a high likelihood of abuse and no medical value.\n\nAllowing marijuana businesses to take advantage of federal tax deductions would give them a tax break of as much as $2.3 billion, allowing them to increase marketing efforts and expand into additional states, the lawmakers wrote. The benefits of economic growth would be outweighed by the costs of accidents, \u201cnot to mention the moral costs of marijuana advertising that could reach kids,\u201d they wrote.\n\n\u201cIn light of the documented dangers of marijuana, facilitating the growth of the marijuana industry is at odds with growing our economy and encouraging healthy lifestyles for Americans,\u201d the GOP senators wrote. \u201cWe urge you to continue your strong leadership of our country and our economy, and to turn away from marijuana rescheduling.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/trump-signs-order-loosen-federal-restrictions-marijuana-its-still-illegal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8190451189875603, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}