On Saturday, while signing an executive order aimed at facilitating regulatory review of psychedelics that have shown promise as psychotherapeutic catalysts, President Donald Trump complained that his underlings had not yet delivered on his promise to reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). "Will you get the rescheduling done, please?" Trump said to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "They're slow-walking me on rescheduling….You're gonna get it done, right?"
Although Kennedy's department has an advisory role in rescheduling decisions, the CSA authorizes the attorney general to make the final call. And on Thursday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche took a big step toward Trump's goal by signing an order that moves state-approved medical marijuana from Schedule I, the CSA's most restrictive category, to Schedule III, which includes prescription drugs such as ketamine, anabolic steroids, and Tylenol with codeine. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves new cannabis-based medications, they will likewise be listed in Schedule III under Blanche's order.
