Print Edition
Colorado’s response to the federal reclassification of medical cannabis ranged from industry leaders celebrating the development to youth advocacy groups warning that the change heightens the need for stronger protections for children.
The U.S. Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration today announced that medically-approved cannabis has been moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Thursday that it is “high time” the federal government caught up to states like Colorado that have led on “safe, regulated medical and adult-use cannabis.”
Polis said the change will help move policy in a “more rational direction” in areas such as research, removing business barriers while improving public safety. He noted there’s more work to be done to fully reschedule cannabis, but that today’s decision is a “step in the right direction.”
The move has been in the works at the White House since at least 2022. The order issued April 23 impacts marijuana and marijuana products regulated by a state medical marijuana license. A statement from the Department of Justice said action “recognizes the longstanding regulation of medical marijuana by state governments and the need for a common-sense approach to this reality.”
Schedule I drugs are those with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. That includes heroin, LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote.
Schedule III drugs have moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, according to the DEA. That includes products containing less than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit, such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone, and now, medical marijuana.
Colorado voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000 for approved patients and with medical consent. That has included coverage for conditions, such as cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis and nausea.
In 2012, Colorado became the first state in the nation to authorize marijuana use for recreational purposes.
As of February 2024, 47 states, the District of Columbia, and three territories, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, allow for cannabis use for medical purposes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mara Sheldon, a senior policy advisor at Holland & Knight who has represented Colorado at the federal level on the cannabis issue, noted that cannabis remains illegal because it’s still on the controlled substances list.
She said Colorado has a good regulatory system in place, which she calls the “gold standard,” and the change will align federal policy more with what Colorado has been doing for years.
The rescheduling change also gives state regulators, investors and businesses room to breathe, she said.
“What we’re hoping is that legalization is coming, sooner rather than later,” she said.
Additionally, the change, Sheldon said, should lead to better research data on pain management, neurological conditions and opioid treatment, for example.
The federal government doesn’t fund research because it’s been illegal, but today’s action should help with research down the road with the Food and Drug Administration, she added.
Where things won’t change for now is in banking.
In particular, the industry has been pushing for what’s called the “SAFER Banking Act” in Congress, she said, noting that the president has said he would sign it. However, no member has introduced the bill in the current Congress.
The SAFE Banking Act was an effort started in 2013 by then-U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, who worked for nine years to get it passed. It won approval seven times in the House but never reached the Senate floor for a vote.
Chuck Smith of Colorado Leads, an alliance of cannabis business leaders, said the administration’s action is a historic step forward in “aligning federal policy with science and the reality on the ground in states like Colorado.”
Smith said the immediate impact on the cannabis industry is narrow — primarily for medical marijuana businesses, not the recreational dispensaries and companies.
Smith said the state-licensed medical marijuana businesses have a path forward to operate within a new federal registration framework. For recreational businesses, their day will have to wait until a broader federal rulemaking takes place, he said.
Hybrid businesses — those that operate both medical and recreational dispensaries — should expect different treatment for registration, tax and compliance purposes, Smith added.
Smith also noted the potential for tax relief for the industry as a result of rescheduling. The biggest change is from section 280E of the Internal Revenue Service Code, which prohibits marijuana businesses from deducting business expenses from gross income, even in states that have legalized it.
On the other side of the issue, Henny Lasley of One Chance to Grow Up said in a statement Thursday that “there has never been a greater need for robust protections for kids in marijuana policies than right now.”
“States and federal policymakers must understand the impacts rescheduling and legalization have on the normalization among kids, who may perceive it as a wellness product,” Lasley said. “If a substance is classified as ‘medical,’ it mistakenly gives youth the impression that there is much more scientific consensus about health benefits than exists.”
Lesley added: “While this lower schedule for medical marijuana will open up more availability for research, we need to be sure any conversation about marijuana fully involves the harmful effects it can have on kids.”
The news came on the heels of public safety issues being raised in the marijuana industry. A Denver Gazette and ProPublica investigation in January reported that, despite Colorado becoming one of the first states to ban intoxicating hemp products made by chemical processing, the legislature and regulators failed to adopt many regulations that other states have employed to keep hemp products off marijuana dispensary shelves.
Creating the liquid distillate for vapes and edibles from hemp is much cheaper than using marijuana, giving companies a competitive advantage.
Regulators said they’re worried because manufacturers rely on toxic and potentially hazardous chemicals to convert the non-intoxicating compound CBD that is prevalent in hemp into THC, the psychoactive compound that makes people feel high. Regulators have banned such chemical synthesis because they say they fear chemical residues could remain in finished products, imperiling the public.
Colorado manufacturers have exploited the state’s regulatory gaps to continue using hemp to make THC distillate that goes in products marketed as marijuana, even though doing so is against state law, according to investigations by regulators, previous agency bulletins and testimony and lab test results contained in several lawsuits.
In 2024, state investigators found that one popular brand of marijuana vapes sold in dispensaries was actually derived from hemp, even though it was marketed and sold as coming from marijuana. Regulators found that the vapes were contaminated with methylene chloride, which is prohibited by Colorado’s marijuana regulators and banned for most uses by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because it can cause liver and lung cancer and damage the nervous, immune and reproductive systems. The chemical is often used to convert CBD from hemp into THC.
Denver Gazette Investigative Team Editor Christopher Osher contributed to this article.
Reporter
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
The Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s most solidly Republican congressional district again posted the state’s biggest fundraising numbers for the most recent quarter, while Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, who is defending the state’s lone toss-up seat,…
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 13 hours ago
The leading House Democratic super PAC is booking more than $9 million in fall TV and digital advertising across three Colorado media markets as part of an aggressive move to win control of the chamber in this year’s midterm elections….
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
The Colorado Republican Party on Monday asked a federal judge to issue an emergency injunction to prevent the state’s unaffiliated voters from being able to cast ballots in the GOP’s upcoming primary election. Lawyers for the party argue in a…
Colorado in D.C.
Alanna Durkin Richer
alanna.durkin.richer@associatedpress.com
Updated 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted Tuesday on federal fraud charges alleging it improperly raised millions of dollars to secretly pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups for inside information, acting Attorney General Todd…
Colorado in D.C.
Callie Patteson, Washington Examiner
callie.patteson.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 6 days ago
WELD COUNTY, Colorado — The touch-and-go race for House control in the Nov. 3 midterm elections could very well be decided in places like this wind-swept stretch of Interstate 25. Specifically, at gas stations in this rapidly growing area north…
Colorado in D.C.
Haris Alic and Lauren Green, Washington Examiner
haris.alic.and.lauren.green.washington.examiner@gazetteedit.wpenginepowered.com
Updated 1 week ago
EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is working on legislation to strip disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell of his $22,000 annual taxpayer-funded congressional pension. Swalwell resigned from the House on Tuesday after allegations of sexual assault by multiple women, including…
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 week ago
Two Christian ministry leaders from Colorado Springs qualified Saturday for the Republican gubernatorial primary ballot at the Colorado GOP’s state assembly in Pueblo in a party meeting that dragged late into the night. State Rep. Scott Bottoms, an Assemblies of…
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 weeks ago
Members of the Colorado Republican Party’s executive committee rejected a proposal Thursday night to seek an emergency injunction in federal court to prevent unaffiliated voters from participating in the state’s upcoming June primary election. The proposed motion, backed by Colorado…
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 weeks ago
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s campaign raised nearly $1.4 million in the first quarter of 2026 and plans to report more than $4 million on hand heading into Colorado’s June primary, the first-term Democrat’s campaign said Thursday. That brings Hickenlooper’s total…
Colorado in D.C.
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 weeks ago
Colorado Republican Ron Hanks, a former state lawmaker, plans to challenge first-term U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd in the 3rd Congressional District primary by seeking a spot on the June ballot at the GOP’s district assembly in Pueblo on Friday, Colorado…
PREV
PREVIOUS
The Denver-based federal appeals court issued a mixed decision on Thursday, finding that a group of plaintiffs could not challenge certain aspects of Colorado’s “ghost gun” prohibition, could challenge others, and ordered further analysis of the law’s constitutionality. To address the proliferation of guns privately assembled from kits or 3-D printers, the General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 279 three […]
NEXT
NEXT UP
The Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s most solidly Republican congressional district again posted the state’s biggest fundraising numbers for the most recent quarter, while Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, who is defending the state’s lone toss-up seat, posted the highest receipts among Colorado’s GOP candidates. Federal fundraising reports covering the year’s first […]
Colorado Politics is proudly powered by WordPress
Welcome to the Denver Gazette
Subscribe to stay up to date with all things Colorado.
Streak: 9 days i
Stories you’ve missed since your last login:
Stories you’ve saved for later:
Recommended stories based on your interests:
About Us
Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.
Transparency In Coverage
Terms Of Service
Privacy Policy
Secure your subscription to Colorado’s premier political news journal, in continuous publication since 1898. You can be in the know right alongside Colorado’s political insiders. Want the real scoop? Subscribe to Colorado Politics today!
© 2025 Colorado Politics