What’s the deal on rescheduling and federal cannabis policy in 2026?

Since President Trump recently issued an executive order directing his administration to accelerate federal rescheduling of cannabis, we’ve been receiving many questions about what this unprecedented move means for cannabis policy going forward. 

Rescheduling Basics

Cannabis has been designated by the U.S. government under Schedule I since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, placing it alongside dangerous substances like heroin. Rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III means federal law is acknowledging that cannabis has a currently accepted medical use and is less dangerous than other drugs currently designated under Schedule I and Schedule II.

While the rescheduling process was initiated under President Biden, and has continued to move forward with the support of President Trump, it will need to receive final approval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for full implementation, with no clear timeline currently in place. 

Positive Implications

The most immediate positive implication of rescheduling cannabis is that it will ease barriers to research on the science behind cannabis, reduce the stigma of medical cannabis use for patients, and improve our understanding of the public health implications of cannabis cultivation and use. It should also allow the entire cannabis industry, medical and adult-use, to get out from under IRS Rule 280e, a punitive framework that denies most normal business deductions to any company dealing in Schedule I or Schedule II substances. This move could also lead to more states establishing and expanding medical cannabis programs.

Areas of Concern

What remains unclear is how cannabis will be treated in comparison to other Schedule III drugs like ketamine and anabolic steroids that initially went through a rigorous FDA testing and approval process, and are tightly regulated and disbursed through pharmaceutical prescriptions. 

In other words, will the FDA and DEA, under Schedule III, allow the current system for medical sales — or something close to it — to continue to operate, or allow the products that are currently available to remain so? Or will federal regulation, which has been non-existent under Schedule I, begin treating cannabis like other Schedule III drugs, such as requiring producers or retail outlets to have DEA licenses, or requiring cannabis products undergo a long and prohibitively expensive FDA approval process before being marketed to the public?

The answer is that at this point, we don’t know.   

Now that President Trump has made the executive order instructing the DOJ to reschedule, Attorney General Pam Bondi has to formally file and sign the motion to move the rule-making forward. In addition, the DEA will have substantial leeway in how it chooses to implement and enforce rescheduling.

For a deeper dive into what the rescheduling executive order does and does not do, check out this breakdown from our friends at Americans for Safe Access (ASA).

Other Federal Cannabis Policy Developments to Watch in 2026

In addition to the rescheduling executive order, the other recent major federal cannabis policy development was the sweeping ban on hemp-derived cannabis products with more than 0.4mg of total THC, which is set to go into effect in November 2026. Congress now has until November to decide whether or not to repeal, reform, or delay the implementation of new hemp-derived cannabinoid rules that threaten to end regulated access to cannabinoids for millions of Americans. 

In 2025, multiple bills were introduced that would allow doctors in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend cannabis as a treatment to military veterans. We hope to see this legislation, and other bills aimed at reducing barriers to medical cannabis access, introduced and finally passed this year.

MPP will continue to advocate in Congress for long-overdue action to address the failed approach of federal cannabis prohibition with sensible policies that respect states with existing adult-use markets.

As always, we’re closely monitoring developments on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures across the country. Stay tuned for action alerts from MPP when it’s time to contact your lawmakers and urge them to support cannabis reform efforts.