Washington DC [US], December 19 : US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday (local time) to federally reclassify marijuana as less dangerous, Al Jazeera reported.
The move on Thursday requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to expedite the process under the Drug Enforcement Administration for reclassifying marijuana.
In the US, drugs and other chemical substances are divided into a five-tier classification system, with Schedule I representing the most restricted tier and Schedule V the least, as per Al Jazeera.
Marijuana was previously in the Schedule I category, where it was classed alongside potent narcotics like heroin and LSD. With Thursday's order, it would be fast-tracked down to Schedule III, in a class with ketamine and anabolic steroids.
Trump said the change "is not the legalisation" of marijuana, and he added that it "in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug," as per Al Jazeera.
The change, however, will make it easier to conduct research on marijuana, as studies on Schedule III drugs require far less approval than for Schedule I substances.
Speaking earlier in the week, Trump told reporters the change was popular "because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that can't be done unless you reclassify, so we are looking at that very strongly".
The change is in line with several states that have moved to legalise marijuana for both medical and recreational use. That has created a patchwork of state-level regulations at odds with federal law, wherein marijuana remains illegal.
Former US President Joe Biden had taken several steps to lessen federal penalties related to marijuana, including a mass pardon for those handed harsh sentences for simple possession, as per Al Jazeera.
Such convictions had disproportionately affected minority communities and fuelled mass incarceration in the US.
The Biden administration had also begun the process of reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III, but the effort was not completed before Biden left office in January, as per Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, public support for legalising marijuana for recreational use has nearly doubled in recent years, increasing from 36 percent support in 2005 to 68 percent in 2024, according to Gallup polls, as per Al Jazeera.
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