President Donald Trump Thursday signed an executive order that would move marijuana out of its current Schedule I classification.
Reclassifying the drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration does not legalize marijuana nationwide, but it could change how the drug is regulated and reduce a hefty tax burden on the cannabis industry.
Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, meaning it is considered highly dangerous, illegal under federal law and not recognized for medical use.
Moving it to Schedule III places marijuana in the same category as Tylenol with codeine or anabolic steroids, allowing accepted medical use and a lower potential for abuse while keeping it regulated.
Experts say the shift could save cannabis businesses money by allowing them to claim standard tax deductions, enable physicians to recommend medical marijuana, reduce certain criminal penalties and expand federal research.
My initial thought was, it’s about time,” said community organizer Scott Smart. For years, Smart has been fighting for marijuana use to be legalized in Georgia and nationwide.
“I went to D.C. in 2024, April 2024 to talk with Congress. I was working on a campaign called ‘We Want All the Smoke.’ We were spreading Marijuana opportunities and knowledge everywhere statewide and having conversations on the Federal level,” he said. “Like if someone was to smell it on you, see it on you, they automatically kind of label you as a criminal in a sense and I’m like I’m not a criminal, I just want to take the edge off and it’s relaxation for most of us.”
Judson Hill with Fine Fettle, a medical dispensary in DeKalb County, says this is good for cannabis business.
“It’s a big step to normalize it and also helps businesses to operate more as a legitimate industry and provides medical research that can be done,” he said. “We’re taxed at 70% so it’s pretty hard to operate and be profitable at all. So imagine wiping that away overnight, makes the industry much more profitable and therefore better able to serve the patients.”
In 2017, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed signed a law that reduces penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana to a maximum $75 fine with no jail time and no arrest record.
