Donald Trump announced the reclassification of marijuana as a less dangerous addictive substance, a regulatory change intended to facilitate medical research. Presented as a measure requested by many patients suffering from chronic pain, this decision does not, however, alter the federal criminal status of cannabis, whose recreational use remains illegal nationwide despite its legalization in many states.

“People were begging me,” Donald Trump explained, referring to requests from patients suffering from chronic pain. On Thursday, December 18, he announced the reclassification of marijuana as a less dangerous substance, a measure intended to encourage medical research without, for the time being, changing its federal criminal status.

He emphasized that this was "in no way a decriminalization" for uses other than medical ones, before signing the decree. "I've always told my children, don't take drugs, don't drink, don't smoke," he added.

According to a senior government official, this measure is a matter of "common sense." She noted that marijuana and CBD products are already used by many American patients to relieve chronic pain.

The majority of states now allow the medical use of cannabis, and more than twenty have also legalized it for recreational use.

Free prescriptions for those over 65

This announcement should in particular allow for more research into the risks of addiction linked to these substances, the official stated.

In addition, "millions" of beneficiaries of the public health insurance program for those over 65 (or Medicare) will be able to get free prescriptions for CBD products starting next spring, announced Mehmet Oz, who runs this health insurance program.

Although nearly three-quarters of Americans live in a state where this drug is legal, this new classification will maintain "criminalization at the federal level," noted Cat Packer, an official with the CRCC, a coalition of local officials involved in these issues, in a statement.

This announcement "falls far short of the necessary reforms," she lamented, asserting that "the American people overwhelmingly support the legalization and end of federal criminalization of cannabis."

However, this measure could have significant economic repercussions by easing the constraints on companies cultivating or marketing cannabis.

Reclassification from category 1 to 3

Specifically, marijuana must move from category 1, the highest in the classification, to category 3.

Category 1 includes heroin, LSD or ecstasy, while category 3 includes substances with a moderate to low risk of addiction such as certain codeine-based medications.

Cannabis, which is a derivative of hemp, was classified as a category 1 drug in 1970, under the influence of Republican President Richard Nixon who had declared an "all-out war on illegal drugs".

This proposed reclassification will nevertheless be subject to the decision of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Former Democratic President Joe Biden had pushed for such a measure, but this change failed to materialize.