President Donald Trump is weighing whether to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, according to a report.
Trump told attendees at a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club earlier this month he was interested in making a change to the plant’s classification, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
This comes after cannabis companies have committed millions of dollars to the president’s political groups, according to the report.
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The guests at Trump’s fundraiser included Kim Rivers, chief executive of Trulieve, one of the largest marijuana companies. Rivers urged the president to make the change and expand medical marijuana research, the newspaper noted.
The potential move to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I controlled substances and make it a Schedule III drug would make it significantly easier to buy and sell cannabis and make the industry more profitable.
The Biden administration had begun pursuing the reclassification of marijuana but did not enact the change before leaving office.
There have also been several bills introduced in Congress by Democrats and Republicans to either lower the classification of marijuana to a Schedule III drug or remove it from the list of controlled substances altogether. Federal lawmakers have also sought to decriminalize the plant.
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But these measures have not been signed into law.
At least 40 states have legalized medical marijuana, while 24 states and Washington, D.C., have also legalized recreational marijuana.
The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.
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