Marijuana Consumers Overwhelmingly Back Trump’s Rescheduling Order...

President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the attorney general to
finalize the marijuana rescheduling process is overwhelmingly popular among
cannabis consumers, according to a new poll.

The survey from the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD asked people who
use marijuana to share their perspective on the order, which was signed in
December but has yet to be followed through on by Attorney General Pam
Bondi. The pending plan would move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III
of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

About 83 percent of respondents said they support the order, compared to 7
percent who expressed opposition and 10 percent who said they didn’t have
an opinion about the proposed reform.
Q: “Do you support or oppose the executive order to reschedule cannabis?”
n: %
Support 379 82.9%
Oppose 34 7.4%
No opinion 44 9.6%
457

NuggMD also included a follow-up question about the practical impacts of
rescheduling, pointing out that while it would not federally legalize
cannabis, it’s expected to “lead to more medical research into cannabis and
for cannabis companies to realize the tax benefits available to most other
businesses.”

About two-thirds (73 percent) of cannabis consumers said they care a “great
deal” about those policy outcomes, while 22 percent said they care “some”
about them and 3 percent said they care “a little bit.” Only 2 percent said
they don’t care at all.
Q: “While rescheduling is not legalization, it is expected to lead to more
medical research into cannabis and for cannabis companies to realize the
tax benefits available to most other businesses. To what extent do you care
about those outcomes?”
n: %
A great deal 334 73.4%
Some 99 21.8%
A little bit 15 3.3%
Not at all 7 1.5%
455

“The EO from President Trump that tells the attorney general to finish the
rescheduling process in the most expeditious manner is different from the
2022 statement from President Biden that requested [the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, o HHS] begin the process,” Andrew Graham, head
of communications at NuggMD, told Marijuana Moment. “I would argue that the
EO has more force, if only because of how this administration seems to
operate compared to the last one.”

“I don’t see an avenue for the attorney general to openly defy the
president’s order while also maintaining her power and proximity to it,
which is why I think rescheduling will indeed happen this year,” he said.
“I know a lot of stakeholders are still trying to talk themselves into
believing that this time, with rescheduling, it’s different. But I do think
that perspective is appropriate, even thought it is far from a done deal
and things could still go awry.”

The NuggMD survey involved interviews with 457 cannabis consumers living in
legal states from January 8-28, with a +/4.58 percentage point margin of
error.

Despite Trump’s call for the attorney general to complete the rescheduling
process “in the most expeditious manner” more than a month ago, that has
not come to fruition at this point. And a top Justice Department
spokesperson told Marijuana Moment last week that they have “no comment or
updates” to share on the topic.

DOJ has been notably silent on the issue in the weeks since Trump signed
the order—even as the White House recently touted the president’s order as
an example of a policy achievement during the first year of his second term.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Trump’s first pick for attorney general this
term who ultimately withdrew his nomination, raised eyebrows last week
after posting on X that he’s been told the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) is actively drafting a rescheduling rule and intended to issue it
“ASAP.”

There’s some confusion around that point, however, as a rule is already
pending before the Justice Department—and a new rule would presumably be
subject to additional administrative review and public comment.

Last week, meanwhile, the White House declined to comment on the status of
the rescheduling process, deferring Marijuana Moment to the Justice
Department.

A Democratic senator told Marijuana Moment earlier this month that it’s “too
early to tell” what the implications of Trump’s cannabis order would be—saying
that while there are “things that look promising” about it, he is “very
concerned about where the DOJ will land.”

“The ability of the Trump administration to speak out of both sides of
their mouth is staggering,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said. “So I’m just
going to wait and see right now. Obviously, there’s things that look
promising—to end generations of injustice. I really want to wait and see.”


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Also last month, two GOP senators filed an amendment to block the Trump
administration from rescheduling cannabis, but it was not considered on the
floor.

Meanwhile, last month, DEA said the cannabis rescheduling appeal process
“remains pending” despite Trump’s executive order.

A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report discussed how DOJ
could, in theory, reject the president’s directive or delay the process by
restarting the scientific review into marijuana.

Bondi separately missed a congressionally mandated deadline last month to
issue guidelines for easing barriers to research on Schedule I substances
such as marijuana and psychedelics.

The post Marijuana Consumers Overwhelmingly Back Trump’s Rescheduling
Order, Poll Shows As Advocates Await DOJ Action appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.