A “weed” sign advertises a cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles. With a new Trump administration in the White House, marijuana may remain on a path toward loosening federal restrictions.

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump should come to the White House with a long list of policies he wants to change or reverse. The Biden administration has moved to ease long-standing restrictions on cannabis. So what could Trump’s arrival mean for the legalization of marijuana?

There are signs that cannabis may be a rare issue on which Trump continues Biden’s policies.

President Biden’s administration has proposed eliminating marijuana from the list of Schedule I controlled substance and make it a Schedule III drug, a category that recognizes medical benefits. In addition to its implications for potential markets and consumers, the this decision would stimulate medical research in cannabis.

David Culver, senior vice president of public affairs for the US advocacy group Cannabis Council, told NPR he is optimistic the new administration will take a similar approach to cannabis.

“We haven’t seen much, if any, activity from President Trump on cannabis reform” during his first term, Culver said. “But I think this time it will be different.”

What did Trump say about marijuana?

Two months before the election, Trump issued a statement largely aligning himself with the Biden administration and his election opponent, Vice President Harris. In this one, he asserted that he supports the legalization of recreational use of marijuana.

“I believe it is time to end the unnecessary arrests and incarceration of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” he said in a statement. Truth on social media. “We also need to implement smart regulations, while still giving adults access to safe and tested products.”

Trump said he would vote “yes” on the issue of recreational cannabis in Florida (the proposed amendment did not reach its threshold of 60%). And he suggested that Biden’s cannabis policies could remain intact.

“As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana as a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common-sense laws, including operations secure banking for state-licensed businesses,” Trump said.

What about Project 2025?

Cannabis and marijuana are not directly mentioned in Project 2025an expansive text that is seen as setting a conservative agenda for the next Republican administration.

“The next president’s top drug policy priority must be responding to the ongoing fentanyl crisis and reducing the number of overdoses and deaths,” the document says, citing the staggering toll of opioids.

The document highlights the need to take on drug trafficking organizations and disrupt the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

A Republican administration “must reaffirm its commitment to preventing drug use before it begins, providing treatment leading to long-term recovery, and reducing the availability of illicit drugs in the United States,” it said. he.

How will Trump’s second term be different from his first?

“When Trump was first president, we had an attorney general who was absolutely — I would consider him a prohibitionist,” Culver said, referring to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

At the start of 2018, the Sessions reversed an Obama policy who ordered federal prosecutors not to prioritize the enforcement of cannabis laws – a decision that raised concerns that the central government could crack down in states where cannabis laws diverge from American law.

“I don’t think we’ll make it this time,” Culver says. “I think the president is going to appoint someone who will take a more neutral and/or pro stance on cannabis reform. And we’re going to have people in this administration like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who are going to have a leading role for legalization champions.

Despite Sessions’ strong opposition to cannabis, Trump said in 2018 that he “will likely end up supporting” bipartisan legislation allowing states to develop their own marijuana laws.

Culver says Trump’s perspective appears to be focused on public safety and creating a regulated market, while keeping cannabis out of the hands of children.

An email to the Trump campaign requesting details about the new president’s cannabis plans during his second term was not responded to before the publication of this article.

A Trulieve employee wears a T-shirt in support of Florida’s Amendment 3, a ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational pot use in the state for adults 21 and older.

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Rebecca Blackwell/AP/AP

Is state momentum slowing down on cannabis?

As Election Day approached, 24 states plus the District of Columbia had legal recreational pot laws on the books. This number remains the same: voting offers stranded in Florida and also in South Dakota and North Dakota – two states where voters have repeatedly rejected legal weed.

Opponents warn against potential health risks of marijuana use. They also accuse cannabis companies of making profits and say they want to wait for a change in national policy.

Florida’s Amendment 3, legalizing cannabis, was backed by a campaign that spent more than $150 million, with most of that money coming from major medical marijuana company Trulieve, according to WUSF member station. Trump supported the measure — but Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a determined campaign against it and against an abortion amendment.

“(DeSantis’) chief of staff, James Uthmeier, chaired two committees that raised more than $30 million to fight the two proposals,” UMF reports.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a single company that has put this much money into a ballot measure in all of American history,” DeSantis said of Amendment 3. He accused Trulieve of seek a lucrative monopoly, noting that the measure would not do so. allow people to grow their own cannabis plants.

And the timing?

Nebraska Voters medical marijuana approved last weekleaving Idaho and Kansas as the only states without a legal medical and/or recreational cannabis program, According to the CDC.

The legalization of cannabis has been a lucrative policy change for US states: in 2023, their cannabis tax revenues exceeded $4 billion – a record – according to Marijuana Political project.

As more Americans report regular marijuana use in recent years, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said in September that federal and state governments must address gaps in regulation and standardization, warning that the lack of clear and reliable information poses a risk to the American public.

“I don’t think the Biden administration will be able to finish the work they started in October 2022 on scheduling reform,” Culver says. “And I think it will be up to President Trump and his administration to pick it up and finish it at some point in 2025. And I expect him to do that.”

Culver says he doesn’t think cannabis will be a top priority for Trump when he takes office. As for what a Trump-era cannabis policy might look like, he suggests the federal government could form a regulatory structure that leaves “the bulk of regulation to the states, just like we do for alcoholic beverages “.