Will Cannabis Reform Progress Under Trump

Written by Paul James

While President Donald J. Trump has never been a huge supporter of marijuana reform, his stance continues to change along with the rest of the country’s.

Currently, advocates have lost hope in federal legalization. With 38 states medically legalized and 24 states recreationally, these efforts will continue on a state-by-state basis.

However, in terms of federal reform, many are putting their sites on rescheduling marijuana. Under the Controlled Substances Act, cannabis sits as a Schedule I. This means it has no medical properties, which is silly considering how many states say otherwise.

Advocates hope to reschedule cannabis to a Schedule III substance. If this were to occur, the currently legalized industry would receive tax relief for business expenses and garner access to banking options.

Naturally, this seems to be the right direction for Trump. Most of his policies concern the country’s economy.

Furthermore, cannabis reform for economic purposes is not outside Trump’s realm. Back in 2018, he federally legalized hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) to expand farm production in the U.S.

Still, his stance on marijuana is unpredictable. Not to mention, it’s unlikely he’ll push back against Republican opposition to federal legalization.

What are Trump’s Stances on Cannabis

Throughout the last decade, every election has been marked by more states joining cannabis legalization trends. However, this last election season saw the smallest push we’ve seen since Colorado legalized in 2012.

Nebraska was the only state to see any headway, in approving of a medicinal marijuana program. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Florida all attempted recreational legislation and failed.

Now that Trump is the president again, there’s a lot of uncertainty as to the progress that will be made over the next few years. The difficulty is Trump has irregular patterns when it comes to marijuana reform.

In 2018, he signed the Farm Bill to legalize hemp production and ultimately make CBD products a huge hit.

However, at the same time, he rejected the 2013 Cole Memorandum, which aimed to prevent federal prosecutors from pursuing cannabis cases in states where it was legalized. Additionally, he advocated for revoking federal protection for state-regulated medical marijuana programs.

These patterns are familiar to advocates trying to manage cannabis reform through Trump’s leadership. And with his recent presidential election, there are some concerns about the future of this industry.

Currently, Trump does want to reform the SAFE Banking Act, which would give marijuana businesses access to federal banking. On top of that, he has an interest in rescheduling the plant in the Controlled Substances Act.

Still, these potentials are overshadowed by the fact that cannabis is not at the top of his agenda. Not to mention, the President isn’t shy of changing opinions when it’s convenient for him to.

Republican Resistance to Cannabis Reform

The truth is, it doesn’t even matter what Trump’s stances are on cannabis. At the end of the day, reform decisions come down to Congress and there is some potential here.

For example, Congressman Matt Gaetz, Trump’s pick for the U.S. attorney general, supports legalization. This is a trend we’ve seen. With a recent Pew Research Poll showing more than two-thirds of Americans support recreational legalization, many Republicans are hopping on board. ¹

However, the majority of the Republican Party continues to oppose cannabis reform efforts. For example, Trump’s choice for the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, has rejected cannabis reform policy for a long time and will likely deny future legislation.

With this, Congress is as unpredictable as Trump. Republicans currently control both the House and Senate, and there are plenty of disagreements when it comes to specific issues.

Still, it can be summed up like this: most Republicans support cannabis reform of business (such as the SAFE Banking Act), but oppose human rights issues (such as federal legalization).

Trump and the Economy: What Does it Mean for Cannabis?

When it comes to his overall policies, Trump has one primary concern: the economy. His main objective? To higher tariffs and lower taxes. How this will affect the cannabis industry is uncertain. However, there are other elements of cannabis Trump may consider to further boost the economy.

As we’ve mentioned, the most notable of these would be rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance. This would eliminate Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code Section 280E, which would allow cannabis businesses to deduct regular commerce expenses like any other industry.

Such reductions may not seem like much, but they would be huge. For example, the cannabis brand Trulieve alone received $113 million in tax refunds after challenging IRS Code Section 280E. ²

Furthermore, advocates continue to have their focus set on the SAFE Banking Act. If passed, this would allow federal financial institutions to work with cannabis businesses, making it easier for entrepreneurs to enter this industry. However, being that this Act has been floating around since 2017, its future remains in the air.

So, What Can We Expect Over the Next Four Years?

Honestly, not much. In regards to federal legalization, there is little chance Trump will do anything to promote this. Instead, we imagine advocates will continue to focus on state-by-state efforts.

As of now, our only hope with Trump is that he’ll continue to carry President Joe Biden’s efforts for rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Since such a move would have major economic benefits, you can imagine that such a move aligns with the primary promises of the Trump administration. With that, we may also see the SAFE Banking Act finally get passed.

In terms of pardoning and expunging low-level marijuana crimes, it’s unlikely the Trump administration will do much in this department. In fact, while the Biden administration made promises for such appeals, recent reports reveal they didn’t actually make such efforts.

According to Marijuana Moment, while White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made claims that Biden “has expunged on the federal level, been able to get that done,” the administration has made no expungements. President Joe Biden even acknowledged this back in May after continuously claiming the opposite. ³

So, as we wrap all this up, we can safely say the future of the cannabis industry and legalization remains very up in the air. At this point, our best bet is continuing efforts on a state-by-state level because the federal government simply has higher priorities.

Published in Weed World magazine issue 172

Image: Jakob-Owens Unsplash