Marijuana advocates and business operators celebrated a historic move to loosen the federal status of medical marijuana, a change expected to boost research on the drug and ease the tax burden for dispensaries.
The change was made about five months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite the process of lowering marijuana from the Schedule I status it’s shared with heroin for decades. As a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act, it would be in the same category as many widely prescribed drugs.