It feels like a never-ending cycle. Local proponents of recreational cannabis use are atwitter with speculation that President Donald Trump will soon ease federal mandates that currently treat marijuana as a dangerous controlled substance. But any hopes for wider legalization in Hawaii could soon be dashed, as they perennially have, come next legislative session when state lawmakers again take up the issue.

For now, prospects of a federal easing, while real, are conjecture, as is anything that comes across the desk of an executive known to test the waters of public opinion through declarations made from his bully pulpit. Things could easily fall apart, but a closer look at the issue is warranted.

To that point, Trump in August said his administration is indeed “looking at” shifting marijuana from a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedule I controlled substance, as described under the Controlled Substances Act, to a lower classification Schedule III. Schedule I substances, such as certain opioids and LSD, have no accepted medical use in the U.S., while Schedule III covers substances including steroids and ketamine. Cough suppressants, analgesics and antiseizure drugs are assigned as Schedule V.

Dropping down to a less-stringently controlled designation is certainly not analogous to legalization through legislation. Rather, such a step by the DEA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would rightly legitimize, at the federal level, medicinal use cases for active compounds found in cannabis sativa. It is time that these chemicals, mainly delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), are medicinally recognized and elevated above stereotypes that lump them together with purely recreational drugs.

Studies suggest THC and CBD can be applied in the treatment of serious conditions — Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn’s disease and HIV/AIDS — and patient testimonials lend credence to their effectiveness. A Schedule III classification would rightly align federal thinking with laws in many states that have legalized medical use of the substances, as Hawaii did in 2000.

State Department of Health officials told the Star-Advertiser that reclassification “could reduce certain barriers to research, allow for more standardized medical guidance, and potentially ease banking and insurance challenges for the industry.” All positive developments with little downside for the state, which would maintain medical cannabis requirements as well as enforcement of an existing recreational use prohibition.

In next year’s Legislature, arguments will surely be made again for lifting Hawaii’s strict possession restrictions — holding 3 grams or less was decriminalized in 2019 — from reducing criminal justice system load, to preventing over-enforcement of certain racial communities. But, beyond approved therapeutics, there is no valid precedent to strike laws against recreational marijuana use.

The potential federal declassification has stoked interest in cannabis tourism. Statistics provided by MMGY Travel Intelligence paint a promising picture for economic gains here, stirring excitement over what Hawaii might reap from the fledgling industry. But any attempt to commercialize and chase dollars off marijuana use is wrong-headed: marijuana promotion to boost tourism is unseemly, not to mention willfully oblivious to the drug-related and law-enforcement problems that would arise. Cannabis tourism must not be seriously considered by the Legislature.

Marijuana’s evolution as a medical drug has in many ways hindered its potential for the recreational market. As Honolulu City Prosecutor Steve Alm notes, potency has been fine-tuned and amplified to meet specific needs; marijuana is not the mild, go-easy substance of 40 years ago. And that can equate to negative health outcomes and associated injuries.

For now, it is in Hawaii’s interest to reap whatever medical benefits come from the expected reclassification, and stay the course on recreational prohibition.