OUTSIDE VIEW: The re-classification of marijuana – Herald-Zeitung
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Updated: December 30, 2025 @ 12:48 am
December 30, 2025
The Boston Globe
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing his attorney general to complete the process of reclassifying marijuana as a less harmful drug, finishing a process that began under the Biden administration.
Trump intends to move marijuana from a Schedule I drug, a category that includes dangerous drugs that have no accepted medical use, to Schedule III, putting it in a category of drugs like ketamine or testosterone, which have “ moderate to low ” potential for dependence and have an accepted medical use.
Trump, announcing the order, focused on the potential benefits of medical marijuana, while decrying its use recreationally. There are more procedural steps before rescheduling can occur, and the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana is expected to sue.
But if the order goes through, rescheduling marijuana would be a step forward, ending the irrational federal policy that has lumped cannabis together with hard drugs like heroin. It could throw a lifeline to Massachusetts’s struggling marijuana industry by eliminating an inequity in the federal tax code that forbids state-licensed marijuana companies like growers and dispensaries from writing off business expenses.
The decision could also provide a shot in the arm to much-needed marijuana research by eliminating regulatory barriers. And it could provide easier access to some cannabis products to seniors through Medicare, which current does not cover any cannabis products.
These are all positive steps — although rescheduling will not fully move marijuana out of a regulatory gray area because it will remain federally illegal.
Congress should take the next step by opening the industry to banking services, including business loans and even checking accounts. (Today, many federally chartered banks will not accept business from a marijuana company.) Meanwhile, state regulators should ensure Massachusetts is poised to take advantage of research opportunities.
The biggest immediate impact of Trump’s announcement would be lowering the federal taxes paid by marijuana businesses. Currently, state-licensed shops fall under a tax law called 280E, which prohibits businesses from taking deductions and credits for trafficking in a Schedule I or II controlled substance.
Frank Segall, a Boston-based cannabis attorney for Blank Rome, said the effective tax rate for cannabis businesses can be more than 70 percent. If marijuana is rescheduled, business owners could deduct costs like payroll or advertising, like any other business.
Kristin Rogers, CEO of LEVIA, a Georgetown-based cannabis beverage manufacturing company, told the editorial board she would see a 20 to 30 percent federal tax cut without 280E. “This is huge, actually getting to function like any other industry,” Rogers said.
While rescheduling won’t immediately impact other financial services, Segall said it could be a step toward changes like letting cannabis businesses be publicly traded on US stock exchanges and giving businesses access to bankruptcy court.
The Cannabis Regulators Association said the Department of Treasury could potentially issue guidance to let more banks provide services to cannabis companies. Those changes would require additional steps by Congress or the administration.
The other major change from this order will be making it easier for marijuana researchers to receive a license from the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Rescheduling would eliminate storage and security requirements related to experimenting with Schedule I drugs, although it would not necessarily change rules related to where marijuana can be grown or the approvals needed for clinical trials.
Rescheduling could make universities less fearful about losing federal funding if they conduct marijuana research, and could make younger scientists more inclined to enter the field if regulatory barriers are lower.
Cannabis Control Commission research director Julie Johnson said in a statement to the editorial board that the commission is developing a Center for Cannabis Research and Policy to bring researchers across the United States together to conduct collaborative research, especially around medical uses and benefits of marijuana. Massachusetts regulators should also ensure the state is positioned to let our universities, industry, and hospitals become research hubs.
“Massachusetts should be leading the pack in terms of cannabis and cannabinoid-based research,” said Staci Gruber, director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery program at McLean Hospital. “We have all the requisite tools, institutions, and individuals who are well-ensconced in this arena.”
Today, Massachusetts offers a state license for cannabis research facilities, but a license has only been issued to one company. Foley Hoag attorney Kevin Conroy said the license is ill-suited to the industry. It requires a lab to sign a host community agreement with a municipality and requires researchers to disclose specifics of their research. A federal shift may make it possible to reform, or even eliminate, the state license.
The executive order instructs administration officials to work with Congress to develop a regulatory scheme for hemp-derived CBD, which has been a legal gray area. Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz said at the signing ceremony that Medicare could begin a pilot program by April providing insurance coverage for CBD-infused products for some seniors, initially focused on cancer care and palliative care, with a physician’s recommendation. (CBD is a compound derived from the cannabis plant that doesn’t cause a high.)
This pilot program has long been a pet project of Howard Kessler, a businessman and philanthropist who lives part-time in Massachusetts and who attended Trump’s signing ceremony. Kessler told the editorial board in 2023 that seniors have unique health care needs and could benefit from cannabis therapies, but they often don’t want to visit dispensaries, register as a medical patient, leave the traditional medical system, or pay out of pocket.
With 40 states and Washington, D.C. allowing medical marijuana, continuing to classify the drug as having no medical use is nonsensical. Rescheduling it is the right move.
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