President Donald Trump will be signing an executive order on Thursday that will direct the attorney to “expedite” and “complete” the marijuana rescheduling process, throw a lifeline to the hemp industry, allow doctors to prescribe CBD products that would be eligible for Medicare coverage and more, a White House official told reporters at a readout ahead of the signing event.
Marijuana Moment wasn’t invited to attend the background briefing, but obtained the transcript of the conversation.
Many details are consistent with reporting about the plan to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), but the discussion revealed additional information about the order and how the administration is framing the reform.
The official started by emphasizing that the “common sense” administrative action is “focused on increasing medical research for medical marijuana and CBD” to “better inform patients and doctors.”
That means expediting the finalization of a rule to reschedule marijuana, they said. The move wouldn’t legalize cannabis, but it would help promote research while also letting marijuana businesses take federal tax deductions they’ve been barred from under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.
Here are new details about Trump’s executive order on cannabis:
- Direct the attorney general to expedite the completion of the process of rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA.
- Direct top White House staff to work with Congress to give patients access to full-spectrum CBD products, “while still restricting the sale and access to products that cause serious and potentially life threatening health risks.”
- Urge Congress to examine updating the definition of hemp to ensure that full-spectrum CBD is accessible to patients—a policy change that could mitigate some concerns in the sector about a recent spending bill Trump signed with provisions that would broadly ban consumable hemp products.
- Direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “develop research methods and models, to utilize real world evidence [and] to improve access to hemp-derived CBD products in accordance with federal law” while informing “standards of care.”
Separate from Trump’s order, Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will also be announcing “a model that will allow a number of CMS beneficiaries to benefit from receiving CBD under doctor recommendation at no cost,” the White House official said.
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