Trump marijuana rescheduling, CBD coverage expected Monday

President Donald Trump could issue an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug as soon as Monday, multiple sources told MJBizDaily.

And along with moving cannabis to Schedule 3, unlocking major tax breaks for plant-touching businesses, the president may also hand the CBD industry a significant gift: allowing Medicare insurance coverage for certain CBD treatments, sources said.

That timeline is consistent with reporting from CNBC, which said Friday the president “is expected” to order cannabis moved to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act at the beginning of next week.

The presidential executive order is not yet finalized, cautioned the sources, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. Thus, it’s not clear exactly how long the Trump marijuana rescheduling process will take – or whether it will follow same two-year-long road of a Biden-era rescheduling directive.

It’s also not clear what CBD treatments would be covered, or how, as current U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules do not recognize CBD as a safe treatment.

And the president’s plans to fulfill a summertime promise faces significant opposition within the White House and cabinet-level agencies, among them the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as well as highly placed health officials.

President Trump’s marijuana rescheduling plans has internal opposition

Already, prohibition-minded individuals have tried to scuttle the process by leaking confidential details of a Wednesday meeting in which the president discussed his plans to reschedule marijuana with top cabinet officials and high-level cannabis advocates to the Washington Post, sources said.

It’s understood that major anti-reform groups, like Smart Approaches to Marijuana, will challenge marijuana rescheduling through the courts.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole is also said to be skeptical and may push for a lengthy review of health and science data.

But Trump is eager to reschedule cannabis in order to fulfill promises made to cannabis interests that have been currying favor with the White House.

He also wants to distracted from other complications like his ties to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and flagging support for his agenda ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Oval Office meeting concerning marijuana rescheduling

Late Thursday, the Post reported that Trump met in the Oval Office with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and certain high-level cannabis advocates.

Oz is said to strongly oppose moving cannabis to Schedule 3 and prefers it remain a Schedule 2 drug – a classification that would keep cannabis subject to Internal Revenue Code Section 280E and forbid basic business deductions on federal tax returns.

The president informed Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that he planned to instruct government officials to reclassify marijuana – and when Johnson protested, the cannabis advocates rebutted his arguments, the Post reported.

Marijuana advocates are influencing Donald Trump

According to multiple sources, the advocates present included Kim Rivers, the CEO of marijuana multistate operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp., and Howard Kessler, a financier and Mar-a-Lago Club member who is the founder of The Commonwealth Project, a pro-cannabis advocacy group.

Both are Florida residents who, along with other major cannabis companies, have worked hard over the past year to curry favor with the president.

And both have been rewarded in the past for their efforts.

Last fall, Trump became the first major party presidential candidate to endorse adult-use marijuana legalization when he pledged to vote for Amendment 3, an adult-use marijuana legalization initiative in Florida bankrolled primarily by Tallahassee-headquartered Trulieve.

In September of this year, Trump reposted on social media a video extolling CBD’s benefits for seniors, that was produced by Kessler’s Commonwealth Project.

The Commonwealth Project was one of the organizations set to testify in favor of rescheduling at hearings scheduled before a DEA administrative law judge that were canceled on the eve of Trump’s inauguration.

Chris Roberts can be reached at chris.roberts@mjbizdaily.com.