President Donald Trump on Saturday appeared to complain that federal officials are “slow-walking” following through on an executive order he issued to complete the process of federally rescheduling marijuana.
“You’re going to get the rescheduling done, right, please? Will you get the rescheduling done, please?” Trump said, seeming to speak to a Department of Justice official during an event in the Oval Office on Saturday. “You know, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling. You’re going to get it done, right?”
The president did not specifically mention cannabis, and it’s not immediately clear who the official he was speaking to is, but it has been four months since he directed the attorney general to complete the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III “in the most expeditious manner.” That hasn’t yet occurred, however.
The president’s comments came during a signing ceremony for a new executive order aimed at expanding and expediting research on the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, a move aimed at making substances such as psilocybin, ibogaine, LSD and MDMA more readily available to patients in clinical settings.
Longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone recently said someone in the Trump administration is “holding up” the completion of the cannabis rescheduling proposal.
Trump this month fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, who opposed marijuana reform in Florida when she was that state’s attorney general, although there is no indication that cannabis was at the center of the president’s frustration with her performance in his administration.
Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney and as deputy attorney general, is serving as acting attorney general until Bondi’s replacement is confirmed for the position.
During his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation process, Blanche said in response to a written question about marijuana rescheduling that he would “give the matter careful consideration after conferring with all relevant stakeholders, including [Drug Enforcement Administration] personnel.”
When asked about aligning federal and state marijuana laws, he said that “coordination between federal and state authorities is critically important” but that he had “not had the opportunity to study this particular issue.”
“If confirmed, I will consult with the necessary stakeholders and give this matter careful consideration,” he said.
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