Cloudy. High around 55F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..
A few clouds from time to time. Low near 35F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: May 2, 2026 @ 1:21 am
State-legal medical marijuana is set to be rescheduled to reflect current understanding that, despite its risk for misuse, the substance does have medical benefits.
While medical marijuana carries risks of drowsiness, hallucinogens carry even greater risks while operating heavy machinery such as motor vehicles.
While marijuana has been found to have some medical benefits, it is also widely abused as a recreational drug and carries risk of creating mental dependency.
Marsh
Marsh
State-legal medical marijuana is set to be rescheduled to reflect current understanding that, despite its risk for misuse, the substance does have medical benefits.
While medical marijuana carries risks of drowsiness, hallucinogens carry even greater risks while operating heavy machinery such as motor vehicles.
While marijuana has been found to have some medical benefits, it is also widely abused as a recreational drug and carries risk of creating mental dependency.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A federal order by the Department of Justice to reclassify state-legal medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug brings possibilities for the substance to be studied by academics for further medical use using federal dollars.
One official at West Virginia University, a school with a history of studying other controversial drugs — including LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide — said he is excited for the opportunity to work toward understanding one of the nation’s most widely used drugs.
“It’s exciting that we may have the opportunity to utilize even better some of the medicines that we now have available for people with very specific FDA-approved indications, and looking at trying to understand and broaden that understanding to look at new applications for people with medical marijuana and its derivatives,” said Dr. Clay Marsh, chancellor and executive dean for health sciences at WVU.
While the DOJ has ordered the reclassification of medical marijuana, the move has yet to be finalized and, once complete, will not itself make medical marijuana federally legal. But the U.S. Supreme Court is also set to rule on two marijuana-related cases in June that could potentially impact the scheduling of recreational marijuana in the future.
For now, the university is in a holding pattern, awaiting the ability to study medical marijuana using Schedule III federal grants. While the understood danger of the drug has lessened and its restrictions are set to follow suit, the fact that it remains a federally regulated substance requires the university to utilize the utmost security and the strictest protocols.
At present, while the drug remains Schedule I, the university’s research centers on the FDA-approved applications of some marijuana derivatives, Marsh said. Once the drug is reclassified, however, research can expand to ask “different types of questions that would … be consistent with that new classification [which] would allow us to be, perhaps, a bit more innovative about the use of some of these uses of medical marijuana or these associated products.”
“There are areas of research that are going on around the university, around some of these issues. But we are being very careful, because right now given this is a class one compound, there is a lot of restrictions involved in being able to do any research,” Marsh said.
Schedule I drugs are defined as having no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule III drugs are understood to have a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence and a currently accepted medical use.
Schedule II drugs, such as opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, are classified as having a high potential for abuse but also have accepted medical applications. However, Schedule I drugs like heroin, LSD, ecstasy, peyote and marijuana have historically been viewed at the federal level as having no medical uses.
Under Schedule III, medical marijuana would join the company of substances such as ketamine, codeine and anabolic steroids.
“We’re in the moment right now … of seeing a real change in this area. And I know that the Trump administration and the officials [and] leaders around this area have done this reclassification as a step to opening up more [research] work in this area,” Marsh said.
When asked about the potential for other drugs like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms — which have seen support for legalization in several Western states, including legalized supervised medical use of psilocybin in Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico — to be federally reclassified, Marsh said it will ultimately come down to future analysis of whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
While medical marijuana can induce drowsiness, hallucinogens present a different set of challenges and potential dangers for the public in a car-centric landscape.
“There are people who have experimented with different psychoactive and brain-affecting chemicals to be able to do some medical application. And depending on the evidence base, and depending on the level of risks that are involved, then perhaps in the future, maybe some other drugs — ketamine for instance — could be moved into that schedule,” Marsh said.
Marsh noted that Schedule II opioids like OxyContin can still be highly addictive and have fueled a drug epidemic across the country. Because of this, he said he expects federal drug regulators to be “very highly conservative” when considering any reclassification.
“I think the research would really need to demonstrate a substantial benefit to overcome the risk of some of these agents,” Marsh said.
While marijuana is on the cusp of being reclassified, data still shows a high prevalence of nonmedical use and a risk of abuse.
“Marijuana is, by far, the most popular drug in America and arguably the most popular drug in the world,” according to the National Center on Drug Abuse Statistics.
Nearly half of Americans over the age of 12 have reported marijuana use at some point in their lives. In 2024, marijuana use surpassed tobacco use in America by 5.2%, the organization reported. Marijuana use has surged in the last decade, rising an estimated 65.2% between 2015 and 2024.
Additionally, the center reported that an estimated 30% of marijuana users develop cannabis use disorder, which often involves a mental dependency on the drug. Marijuana has been widely considered less harmful in recent years, in part because the Drug Enforcement Administration has no documented case of a fatal overdose attributed solely to the drug.
While medical marijuana has been linked to the treatment of seizure disorders, reduced nausea for chemotherapy patients and assisted weight gain for those being treated for anorexia, Marsh said recent studies have shown it to be an ineffective treatment for depression or anxiety.
Still, Marsh said, reclassification will allow researchers more flexibility and more opportunities to further the understanding of medical applications.
Staff Writer Damian Phillips can be reached at 304-626-1404 or dphillips@wvnews.com.
Marsh
Your comment has been submitted.
Reported
There was a problem reporting this.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Account processing issue – the email address may already exist
News from around the State and World. What you need to know for today! Don’t Miss it!
Sign up to get our statewide obits delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign up to receive our daily newsletter about all things business and politics in West Virginia.
Morgantown News Delivered to Your Inbox Each Week!
Special offers from businesses around your area.
Get the latest headlines on local WVU, College and High School sports!
Get latest breaking news from around the state when it happens.
Daily News, Sports and Events from The ET.
Sign up for the only WV Government and Business newsletter delivered each week!
This week’s most popular news from around the State. Don’t Miss it!
Daily updates from Blue Gold News for WVU sports.
Weekly News, Sports and Events from the Braxton Democrat and Citizens’ News
Daily News, Sports and Events for Marion County.
Daily News, Sports and Events for Garrett County and surrounding areas.
Get the Jackson News Weekly delivered to your inbox!
Daily news from the Mineral News & Tribune delivered to your email!
Daily News, Sports and Events for Preston County.
Get the River Cities Tribune and Register Delivered to your email less frequently!
Weekly News, Sports and Events from The Times Record and Roane County Reporter
News, Sports and Events from around Grafton and Taylor County!
The Best News for Buckhannon and Upshur County!
Daily News, Sports and Events for Weston and Surrounding areas.
Local Classifieds delivered to your inbox each week
Sign up with
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Invalid password or account does not exist
Sign in with
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Secure transaction. Secure transaction. Cancel anytime.
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
A receipt was sent to your email.