The Trump Administration's order to reclassify state-legal medical marijuana could have broad impacts for Colorado's cannabis industry. But exactly what those are remains to be seen, legal experts and industry personnel say.
The industry reacted with a mix of optimism and confusion on Thursday, after U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order immediately rescheduling medical marijuana from the most restrictive Schedule I classification to the less restrictive Schedule III. The order also put FDA-approved cannabis products into Schedule III.
While industry insiders said formally recognizing the medical value of marijuana marks progress, the effects of rescheduling are not as widespread as cannabis purveyors had hoped they would be after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last December directing the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify the plant.
The move also essentially splits the market in states that have legalized weed for both medical and other consumers. Adult-use cannabis remains a Schedule I substance in the eyes of the federal government, though the DEA is expected to start discussing whether marijuana should more broadly be reclassified in June.
Read more at The Denver Post
