Trump’s big marijuana move

Donald Trump in the Oval Office after signing an executive order on marijuana rescheduling on December 18, 2025. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is loosening restrictions on medical marijuana.  What changed? On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that state-licensed medical marijuana and products approved by the Food and Drug Administration containing marijuana will now fall under Schedule III, rather than Schedule I, of the Controlled Substances Act.  It sounds technical, but it’s a big shift: As a Schedule I drug, marijuana was in company with heroin, and considered by the federal government to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”  The move to Schedule III recognizes medical marijuana as a lower-risk drug and opens up new possibilities for medical research and treatment, and it has tax implications for medical marijuana businesses. What about recreational marijuana? Nothing has changed yet, but it’s in the works. In a press release, the DOJ said it would “expedite” the process of “fully” rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III, with a new hearing scheduled for the end of June. What’s the context? Efforts to reschedule marijuana are bipartisan, but slow-moving. President Joe Biden took what he described as