On Thursday, President Donald Trump directed his administration to finalize the rescheduling process his predecessor in office initiated for marijuana. This order won’t legalize marijuana, dramatically expand research, or enact criminal justice reform. But it will transfer billions of American taxpayer dollars from the federal government to the bank accounts of pot shops while driving up crime around the country. Families and communities everywhere have reason to worry.
Some context: The federal government uses a five-part schedule to classify potentially dangerous drugs. Schedule I contains drugs with no accepted medical use and a high risk of abuse. Marijuana belongs there, and it correctly sat there for decades. Trump just made sure it will move to Schedule III, a far less restrictive classification.
