The United States to loosen rules on marijuana, a major change for an industry

The Justice Department will expedite the hearing on the evaluation of marijuana.

This measure is expected to boost the cannabis industry by reducing taxes and easing access to financing.

Previously, marijuana was classified with drugs like heroin.

Marijuana is not yet completely legal in the United States.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday that it will immediately loosen restrictions on certain marijuana-based products and quickly work to reclassify the drug as less dangerous, marking one of the most significant changes in U.S. drug policy in decades.

This decision does not legalize marijuana nationwide, but it is likely to reshape the $47 billion industry, which has faced persistent federal obstacles, given that all but two U.S. states have legalized it in some form for medical use, with nearly half also legalizing it for recreational use.

Medicinal marijuana products regulated by the states will now be moved from a group of drugs classified as highly addictive, such as heroin, to a less restrictive category of substances with a low to moderate abuse potential, including common painkillers, ketamine, and testosterone. Marijuana-based products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would also be transferred to this category.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the U.S. government will also make a broader effort to reclassify all uses of the psychoactive plant as less dangerous.

These measures are likely to reduce research barriers, ease tax burdens, and enable businesses to more easily obtain funding.

“This reclassification measure will allow for research into the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately benefiting patients with better care and providing doctors with more reliable information,” said Mr. Blanche in a statement.

This decision follows a decree issued by President Donald Trump in December directing the Justice Department to loosen marijuana-related restrictions.

The move is expected to boost the growing cannabis industry in the U.S., benefiting companies such as Canopy Growth, Tilray Brands, and Trulieve Cannabis.

Legal sales are projected to reach $47 billion in 2026, according to market research firm BDSA.

After Trump’s decree in December, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began allowing certain eligible Medicare beneficiaries to use hemp-derived products, including CBD products, under clinician direction.

Thursday, Mr. Trump stated that more needs to be done. In a post on Truth Social, he urged Congress to update the law to ensure access to a “full range” of CBD products “while preserving Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products posing health risks.”

Marijuana is the most commonly consumed illicit drug in the U.S. and worldwide, with nearly one in five U.S. residents using it in a year. Millions of Americans have been arrested for marijuana possession, even as publicly traded cultivation companies sell cannabis-related products.

The Biden administration had undertaken a similar approach in 2024, but it was not finalized when Trump returned to power and the Drug Enforcement Administration dropped the initiative.

The Justice Department indicated that it will begin a process on June 29 to collect evidence and expert opinions on the drug’s reclassification.

Skeptics of marijuana have argued that legalization would lead to increased drug use among minors, decreased workplace productivity, and increased risks to road safety.

Dozens of Republicans in Congress opposed in December when President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to ease regulations. Reactions were more subdued Thursday, but Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, said these measures would make it easier for Americans to consume what he described as a still dangerous drug.

“Marijuana is much more potent today than it was ten or twenty years ago, leading to increased psychoses, antisocial behavior, and deadly car accidents,” Mr. Cotton said in a social media post. “A change in the classification of marijuana as a drug is a step in the wrong direction.”