President Donald Trump said his administration is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
"We're looking at reclassification and we'll make a determination over the next few weeks," Trump said at press conference August 11.
Though 45 states have legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, the federal government still classifies it as a Schedule I drug.
In 2022, then-President Joe Biden asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration to review how marijuana is scheduled. In 2023, Health and Human Services recommended that marijuana be moved to Schedule III. In 2024, DEA proposed a rule to transfer marijuana to Schedule III. That rule change has been on hold since March 2025.
Reclassifying marijuana would be the biggest change in marijuana policy the federal government has taken since the drug was first outlawed, but it would not make recreational usage legal under federal law.
