By Emily Dufton
For the first time in 56 years, cannabis has left Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, where it was placed in 1970. Despite legalization in 40 states for medical use and 24 for recreational use, it had remained classified as having no accepted medical use. Last month, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved medical marijuana into Schedule III—a category with some accepted medical use and “moderate-to-low” dependence potential—covering products legal in 40 states and Washington, D.C., along with four FDA-approved cannabis products. Dispensary owners are no longer subject to the 280E tax burden.
What distinguishes this rescheduling is who it targets. Every prior legalization push centered on young adults: the 1970s framed decriminalization as a baby boomer’s adult right; the ’80s and ’90s pushed medical marijuana for HIV/AIDS patients; the 2010s tied legalization to ending mass incarceration of young Black men. Re-criminalization efforts equally focused on children—Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign launched to protect kids, and intoxicating hemp products accidentally legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill are set to be banned again this November after opponents cited pediatric emergency room visits.
The Trump administration’s push, by contrast, targets Americans over 65—currently 18 percent of the population, projected to reach nearly a quarter by 2050. Howard Kessler of the Commonwealth Project has vocally championed senior medical marijuana use. A Project video Trump reposted on Truth Social last September addressed the president directly: “You will deliver the most important senior health initiative of the century, cementing your legacy and transforming aging care. Millions everywhere will thank you.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Director Dr. Mehmet Oz has supported federal funding for this purpose.
By centering senior health, Kessler’s campaign may neutralize the “save the children” argument that shaped prior prohibition drives—but a backlash could arise just as fast if unregulated products harm elderly patients.
The rollout has drawn criticism for lacking coordination. The DEA, FDA, DOJ, and IRS are all involved alongside state and local bodies, with no clear governing authority and no guidance on the rescheduling’s impact on the hemp/marijuana divide. As Dr. Gillian Schauer, executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association, told NPR: “We have been implementing policy that’s far ahead of where the science is… It’s like we’re flying the plane blind while building it without parts.” The legal, scientific, and commercial infrastructure needed to serve senior patients has yet to take shape.
Emily Dufton is the author of Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America and Addiction, Inc.: Medication-Assisted Treatment and America’s Forgotten War on Drugs.