Legal experts have warned that a recent executive order from President Donald Trump to reclassify cannabis will do little to protect users from criminal charges and deportation, as his administration simultaneously pursues harsher enforcement policies.
Rescheduling Reality Check
While President Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi last month to expedite moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, citing FDA findings on its medical potential, this change has not yet materialised. Crucially, experts argue that even if completed, rescheduling will not reduce criminal penalties for cannabis offences.
Cat Packer, Director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, explained that marijuana carries specific penalties under the Controlled Substances Act that are independent of its schedule. "Even if it got moved to schedule V... formulations of cannabis that have not been FDA-approved would still be just as criminalised," Packer stated.
Douglas Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University, echoed this, noting that on paper, rescheduling "wouldn't make any formal difference". However, he highlighted the potential for informal shifts in enforcement attitudes stemming from such a federal acknowledgement.
Ramped-Up Enforcement Under Trump
Contrasting with the move towards rescheduling, the Trump administration has actively intensified cannabis-related prosecutions and immigration actions. In a significant reversal, the Department of Justice rescinded Biden-era guidance in September that had directed US attorneys not to prosecute simple cannabis possession cases.
Following this, US Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith announced his intention to use "every prosecutorial tool available" to hold cannabis offenders accountable. Furthermore, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used cannabis offences, including simple possession, as grounds for deportation.
Some ICE raids have targeted state-legal recreational grow operations. In a tragic incident in July, agricultural worker Jaime Alanís Garcia died after falling while fleeing from ICE officers during a raid on a Glass House Farms facility in California.
Vulnerable Communities Bear the Brunt
Experts stress that the most severe consequences of this dual-track policy—promising medical recognition while ramping up enforcement—will be felt by non-citizens and communities of colour. "Noncitizens remain the most vulnerable to these types of prosecutions … and I also think that Black and brown folks will continue to bear the brunt of enforcement," Cat Packer asserted.
This disparity is exacerbated by factors like public consumption and economic circumstances that leave some groups more exposed to policing. Packer noted that while 2025 arrest data won't be available until October, Trump administration efforts may have already stalled the national downward trend in cannabis arrests observed in recent years.
The situation in Washington DC illustrates this heightened enforcement. After President Trump declared a "crime emergency" there and demanded increased policing in parks where public cannabis use is common, arrests for minor cannabis offences accelerated.
Ultimately, the administration's approach presents a paradox: endorsing cannabis's medical benefits while undermining protections for recreational users and intensifying the legal risks for the most marginalised individuals.
