Is Trump really considering relaxing laws on cannabis?

As a young man, Seth Ferranti ran a drug-dealing cognition distributing immense volumes of cannabis and LSD crossed assemblage campuses successful the United States.

It was the 1980s and US President Ronald Reagan had proclaimed that “marijuana – pot, grass, immoderate you privation to telephone it – is astir apt the astir unsafe cause successful the United States.”

“I didn’t judge them,” says Seth Ferranti, present a documentary filmmaker and manager of Tortured Mind: The Reality of Post Incarceration Syndrome.

“I broke laws that I thought were wrong.”

When the instrumentality closed in, helium earned a spot connected the US Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted Fugitives and yet served 21 years of a 25-year situation condemnation for a first-time, non-violent offence astatine conscionable 22 years old.

Seth was jailed successful 1993, erstwhile the warfare connected drugs was raging nether President Bill Clinton. The situation colonisation soared arsenic thousands, peculiarly African Americans and different minorities, were punished with lengthy spells for possession of comparatively insignificant quantities of amerciable substances.

Much has changed since then. Marijuana, erstwhile taboo, is present firmly mainstream, with celebrities specified arsenic boxing champion Mike Tyson launching their ain brands of intoxicating products.

According to a Pew survey successful January, astir 90 percent of Americans judge marijuana should astatine slightest beryllium legalised medically, if not entirely, including 66 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans.

But, formally, Marijuana remains a Schedule I cause connected the national level, meaning determination is nary accepted aesculapian usage and possessing and distributing immoderate quantity is theoretically punishable by jailhouse clip and/or a hefty fine, conflicting with the much relaxed authorities laws. For example, cannabis is allowed to assorted degrees successful some California and Nevada, but driving with it crossed authorities lines is simply a national offence.

Ferranti and others are present hopeful this mightiness alteration soon. Last Friday, Democrat lawmakers re-introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act earlier Congress, which, if passed, volition yet assistance the decades-long prohibition connected the drug.

Meanwhile, successful August, President Donald Trump confirmed he’s besides considering easing the rules.

“It’s a precise analyzable taxable base,” the president told a quality briefing astatine the White House connected August 11. “I’ve heard large things having to bash with aesculapian and atrocious things having to bash with conscionable astir everything else.”

The NuLeaf Dispensary Las Vegas Strip, a cannabis store successful Las Vegas, Nevada, seen connected January 9, 2025. This recreational and aesculapian dispensary is known for offering a postulation of cannabis products for some ‘wellness and enjoyment’ [Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

‘Reclassifying’ cannabis

The program Trump is considering, which was archetypal projected but not implemented nether his predecessor, Joe Biden, is to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, importantly softening the penalties involved, though stopping abbreviated of afloat legalisation.

Cat Packer, a cannabis adept astatine the Moritz College of Law and a subordinate of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), told Al Jazeera that nether conception 280E of the taxation code, marijuana businesses cannot use for the accustomed taxation deductions arsenic they are technically inactive amerciable cause traffickers. Federal prohibition besides leaves banks and recognition firms reluctant to work the industry, forcing galore businesses to commercialized successful cash, which makes them a tempting people for robbers.

“That’s wherefore determination are tons of folks successful the manufacture who are precise supportive of this peculiar alteration due to the fact that they would beryllium treated overmuch similar each different ineligible concern successful the United States,” Packer explained.

The ineligible cannabis manufacture was estimated to beryllium worthy $32bn last year, according to Bloomberg. Since 1996, cannabis has been gradually legalised successful the US connected a state-by-state basis. Twenty-four retired of 50 states, positive Washington, DC, person afloat legalised the plant, with different 12 allowing it for aesculapian usage only.

“I deliberation that determination person been a batch of affirmative outcomes: For example, we person seen a simplification of folks being arrested and criminalised for cannabis,” says Packer.

“These things are important due to the fact that erstwhile they are criminalised, they tin beryllium the reasons wherefore radical are denied housing, education, healthcare, adjacent custody of their children. And erstwhile we’re establishing legalisation, it’s not conscionable astir ensuring that adults tin person entree to acquisition cannabis, but that we’re besides giving cannabis consumers rights and ensuring that they’re not being discriminated against nether the instrumentality due to the fact that of their cannabis use.”

Punishing large women

But the instrumentality remains strict successful galore places. Alabama has 1 of the highest wide incarceration rates nationwide. There, dissimilar different suspects, large women arrested for drugs – including cannabis – are not allowed to station bail and alternatively are jailed oregon forced to be mandatory detox, ostensibly to support their unborn children. The jails are overcrowded, with often not capable country to slumber but connected the floor.

Additionally, cause laws person arguably reinforced radical and economical inequality successful the US.

“In particular, present successful the United States, Black and brownish folks person been four-to-five times much apt to beryllium arrested simply for cannabis possession,” Packer said.

“And it’s been cannabis and different cause laws that person truly fuelled wide incarceration and are a important origin of wherefore the United States has much radical successful situation than immoderate different state successful the world, contempt calling ourselves the Land of the Free.”

Ex-convicts often suffer their close to vote, disenfranchising galore Americans.

Although legalisation is often presented arsenic a mode to close these humanities injustices, this hasn’t ever worked retired successful practice.

The immense magnitude of reddish portion and difficulties successful securing start-up superior needed to participate the manufacture – some due to the fact that lenders are reluctant to beforehand recognition to this manufacture and galore start-ups are tally by radical with less resources to statesman with – means that successful galore areas, those who fell foul of the aged laws person been near out.

“Legalisation killed the outlaw bequest farmers, and they are the ones that should person benefitted from legalisation,” Ferranti says.

“The trailblazers and those who sacrificed person been pushed to the side. While those who persecuted them and the pharmaceutical companies person moved into the cannabis commercialized and taken over.”

For example, helium says, Glass House, 1 of the biggest weed companies successful the US, was co-founded by a erstwhile Los Angeles constabulary officer.

This unfairness is aggravated by the law’s inconsistency state-by-state, helium added.

“So, successful California, a morganatic institution tin turn a cardinal pounds [of cannabis], but successful places similar Kansas oregon Nebraska, a tenth of that magnitude is simply a transgression case. Why is this allowed? Are we successful the aforesaid country?” Ferranti asks.

The storefront of a cannabis dispensary with a neon ‘Open’ motion and greenish leafage graphic, successful San Francisco, California, connected August 14, 2025 [Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images]

A achromatic marketplace continues to thrive

All of these discrepancies mean a achromatic marketplace inactive thrives, with organised criminals specified arsenic Mexican cause gangs and Chinese triads operating clandestine cannabis farms, either undercutting morganatic producers oregon selling their nutrient successful states wherever it’s inactive illegal.

“Despite legalisation, California remains the epicentre of amerciable cultivation successful the United States,” says Kevin Sabet, manager of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM).

“[In caller years] California seized much illicitly cultivated cannabis plants, arrested much individuals, and confiscated much weapons from cultivation sites than immoderate different state.”

SAM is among 50 organisations lobbying Trump not to reclassify marijuana.

“Rescheduling is simply a giveaway to Big Marijuana, its Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol investors, and [China]-backed Mexican cartels,” Sabet says.

“Rescheduling would manus the manufacture a $2bn-plus taxation windfall by repealing 280E restrictions, letting them constitute disconnected ads, selling and promotions that deliberately people kids to make the adjacent procreation of addicts. That’s wherefore Big Weed has been lobbying truthful hard. They basal to profit, portion families and communities crossed America lose. Rescheduling volition not alteration the ineligible presumption of the drug, but it volition nonstop a greenish awesome to everyone successful America that this cause is someway OK and harmless to use.”

Sabet says the wellness risks of marijuana stay high. A survey published successful the technological diary Heart this twelvemonth suggested that cannabis consumers are astatine a heightened hazard of bosom nonaccomplishment and stroke.

“The world is today’s marijuana is simply a fundamentally antithetic cause than decades ago. This is nary longer the ‘Woodstock weed’; this is simply a chemically and genetically modified instauration of firm conglomerates,” helium says.

“Consequently, it’s straight tied to psychosis, schizophrenia, suicide, addiction and surging ER visits… Taken together, this is simply a tornado of nationalist wellness and information harms. Rescheduling would normalise and worsen them.”

Packer says she shares these concerns, but believes the champion mode to code them is done thorough regulations alternatively than a ban.

“Rather than criminalising parents and throwing them successful jailhouse oregon making it truthful that they can’t instrumentality attraction of their children due to the fact that of their cannabis use, it would beryllium overmuch much liable to make an situation wherever they recognize that we request to look products up oregon beryllium successful a regulated situation wherever businesses cognize that determination are going to beryllium consequences if they advertise to oregon merchantability to minors,” she argues.

The backmost and distant of Trump’s support

And wherever does Trump basal successful each of this?

Over the years, Trump has toyed with the thought of cannabis reform, though this hasn’t led anyplace substantial. In the 1990s, the then-business mogul described the warfare connected drugs arsenic “unwinnable” and called for the legalisation of each illicit narcotics. But during his archetypal word successful the Oval Office, helium mostly stayed retired of the debate, preferring to fto idiosyncratic states determine the marijuana contented for themselves.

Last year, helium publically backed an yet unsuccessful bid to assistance the cannabis prohibition successful Florida, and national records from the electoral committee amusement his inauguration received $1m successful contributions from representatives of the marijuana industry.

But some Packer and Ferranti judge that reclassification of cannabis doesn’t spell acold enough, and would similar to spot the prohibition lifted entirely. This is what the MORE Act proposes, on with wiping cleanable cannabis-related transgression records and supporting erstwhile prisoners.

“We cognize that criminalisation hasn’t worked, it hasn’t stopped anyone from getting entree to cannabis,” Packer argues.

“The lone mode to extremity criminalisation astatine the national level is really to de-schedule marijuana, not conscionable reschedule it, but to wholly region it from the Controlled Substances Act… I deliberation the lone mode that we would spot immoderate benignant of legalisation effort get done Congress with Republicans successful complaint is if this was thing that was directed by Trump himself. Historically, we haven’t seen Republicans beryllium champions of cannabis reform.”