In Support of the Trump Administration’s Rescheduling of Cannabis as a Schedule III Drug
An end to a federal log-jam that unlocks medical research and lifts a 70% tax burden on state-legal operators
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) welcomes the Trump administration’s action to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, ending decades of federal policy that placed a drug legalized in nearly 40 states in the same regulatory category as heroin and LSD. The move completes a rulemaking process begun by a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed rule in May 2024, which drew more than 43,000 public comments, the overwhelming majority of which were supportive of reform. President Trump’s December 2025 executive order directed the attorney general to expeditiously complete the rescheduling.
“Schedule III is not legalization—it’s the federal government finally catching up with the science and with the 38 states that already moved on from prohibition,” said Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center. “For years, DEA stonewalling has done one thing above all others: hand the illicit market an unfair edge over the legal operators who actually follow the rules. Rescheduling begins to level the playing field, unlocks the medical research that patients with cancer, seizure disorders, and chronic pain have been waiting decades for, and ends a punitive 70% effective federal tax rate that no other legal industry in America pays.”
WHAT RESCHEDULING DOES AND DOES NOT DO
Moving cannabis to Schedule III ends the application of Internal Revenue Code Section 280E to state-legal operators, a provision that has forced dispensaries to pay effective federal tax rates of roughly 70% or higher by blocking standard business-expense deductions. It also removes the most significant federal barrier to medical cannabis research.
[ WATCH: OSSOWSKI REACTS TO RESCHEDULING ON HILLTV ]
Rescheduling does not legalize marijuana federally, does not alter sentences for federal cannabis prisoners, does not preempt state law, and does not fully resolve banking barriers. Congress must still act on legislation such as the SAFER Banking Act to fully integrate cannabis commerce into the financial system.
“President Trump’s actions are a step forward, but at the same time, the FDA is pushing for a new Schedule One classification for kratom alkaloids like 7-OH (7-Hydroxymitragynine) and slow-walking new approvals on flavored nicotine products for adults. These products help reduce harm for adult consumers, and agencies like the FDA and DEA should follow Trump’s guidance on achieving smarter regulatory rules rather than prohibition,” Ossowski concluded.
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About the Consumer Choice Center
The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries.
Find out more at consumerchoicecenter.org
