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by Kimberly Querry-Thompson
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Following the news that the Trump administration was reclassifying medical marijuana, an Oklahoma agency is celebrating the decision.
President Donald Trump's acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug, shifting it from Schedule I to the less strictly regulated Schedule III.
"These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana's safety and efficacy, expanding patients' access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions," Todd Blanche wrote on X.
Blanche’s action largely legitimizes medical marijuana programs in the 40 states that have adopted them. It also creates an expedited system for state-licensed producers and distributors to register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The order makes clear that researchers won’t be penalized for obtaining state-licensed cannabis or cannabis-derived products for their work. It also grants companies a financial boost by allowing them, for the first time, to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes.
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Director Donnie Anderson said he believes the move is good for Oklahoma.
“Moving marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III opens up opportunities,” said OBN Director Donnie Anderson. “Legitimate marijuana businesses will be able to take advantage of tax breaks and banking options afforded to other industries. It also removes barriers to clinical studies by research institutions into both the potential health benefits and risks linked to cannabis.”
Anderson says the decision to reclassify medical marijuana will create a new layer of federal regulation, oversight and enforcement to target those who try and sell marijuana illegally.
He says it builds on what OBN is doing to crack down on illegal operators.
In 2021, OBN established Marijuana Enforcement Teams to target operations tied to black market trafficking.
At the end of 2022, officials say there were 8,400 marijuana farms operating with an active OBN Registration.
Now, there are less than 1,400.
Since the team was formed in 2021, OBN MET agents have seized over 2.2 million illegal marijuana plants, more than 290,000 pounds of processed marijuana, and made over 400 arrests.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.