As the calendar flips to 2025 and President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take back the Oval Office, the cannabis industry is wondering whether it’ll be high times ahead or whether the new administration will weed out some of their biggest plans.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration took steps to reclassify cannabis, which would not only lessen the criminal penalties for its use and possession but also allow the Food and Drug Administration to approve various other cannabis products, such as hemp and CBD.
However, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s slow progress on the rule means the Trump administration will now have the final say.
“We put out a statement that we can live with the marijuana,” Trump told podcaster Lex Fridman in September. “It’s got to be a certain age –– got to be a certain age to buy it. It’s got to be done in a very concerted, lawful way.”
From his first administration until now, though, the president-elect has had a mixed record on cannabis legislation.
Trump’s notable actions supporting cannabis
In 2018, Trump said he would “probably” support a bill to drop all federal marijuana and cannabis laws, leaving its regulation to the states. However, that bill did not pass.
The same year, he signed the annual farm bill. It included provisions that removed some cannabis products from the list of controlled substances for the first time.
More recently, on the campaign trail, Trump said he supported the Biden administration’s reclassification of cannabis.
Trump’s notable actions restricting cannabis
In 2018, the Trump administration reversed a policy made under President Barack Obama. The policy instructed federal prosecutors not to prosecute marijuana cases in states that legalized marijuana.
His 2021 budget proposal removed a rule that had protected state medical marijuana laws from Justice Department interference.
A second Trump administration may be more open to cannabis legalization as voter attitudes are changing. A Pew Research poll from this spring found more than half of Republicans under 50 support legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana.
But some of the most prominent opponents of loosening cannabis laws are Republicans on Capitol Hill, including incoming Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
