Recriminalize, don’t decriminalize marijuana

Published August 12, 2025 5:00am ET



The marijuana industry is pouring millions of dollars into a lobbying campaign to push President Donald Trump to reclassify the drug as a harmless substance. It would be a grievous error for him to do so, worsening the opioid epidemic and weakening communities that Trump swore to protect from special interests.

The president told people who attended a recent $1 million-a-plate fundraising event that he was considering moving marijuana from Schedule I, the highest level of restriction under the Controlled Substances Act, to Schedule III, a lower classification used for things such as ketamine and codeine. The lower classification would mean easier and wider marijuana use and more financing for the already multibillion-dollar marijuana industry. One of those at the fundraiser was Kim Rivers, CEO of Truleive, one of the largest marijuana companies in the nation. 

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