Trump Justice Department turmoil not expected to delay marijuana rescheduling

President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi won’t change much for the cannabis operators desperate for movement on marijuana rescheduling, several sources close to the process told MJBizDaily on Thursday.

That’s because the calculus is the same whether the Justice Department is led by former Trump personal attorney Todd Blanche, who will take over from Bondi on an acting basis, or Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, said to be Trump’s long-term, permanent choice.

The president has promised to reschedule cannabis. And movement is underway at the DOJ to do it, possibly as soon as within 30 to 60 days, one observer said.

Trump “has been clear in his directive to have cannabis rescheduling implemented expeditiously, and it is understood that the administration is taking the necessary steps to ensure the process is legally and procedurally sound,” Brian Vicente, a partner at Denver-based law firm Vicente LLP, told MJBizDaily.

But whether the inevitable legal challenges to follow will delay tangible benefits such as tax relief – and for how long – are separate questions.

What are the next steps for Trump marijuana rescheduling?

The U.S. marijuana industry is still waiting for the next step after Trump’s historic Dec. 18 executive order directing Bondi to downgrade cannabis to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act “in the most expeditious manner possible.”

By issuing an EO, Trump did go further than former President Joe Biden, under whose watch federal health regulators declared, using a new method, that cannabis has a “currently accepted medical use” in the United States. That process, including contentious hearings before a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrative law judge, stalled out as Trump took office.

Trump, well-known for crafting public policy around personal relationships, was swayed in large part by the influence of billionaire Howard Kessler, a friend and Mar-a-Lago Club member who credits CBD for helping him during cancer treatments.

Some cannabis operators welcomed Blanche’s temporary appointment enthusiastically.

Blanche, who represented the president in his criminal matters before joining the Justice Department as Bondi’s deputy, “is a big net positive for the state regulated cannabis industry,” said Trent Woloveck, the chief strategy director at cannabis multistate operator Jushi Holdings.

“He has been active in the conversations around the drafting of the final rule,” Woloveck told MJBizDaily.

“We’re encouraged that the acting AG will not have a steep learning curve on the issue of rescheduling and the finalization of the rule.”

There are other positive signs.

White House officials met with cannabis multistate operator

On Wednesday, Woloveck and Jushi’s Capitol Hill lobbyist met with staffers at the White House Office of Management and Budget, federal records show.

And while the officials at OMB, an office responsible for carrying out presidential directives, didn’t offer any tangible deadlines, according to Woloveck, there’s an overall feeling of inevitability with cannabis rescheduling around the industry.

That’s in part due to the Wednesday launch of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ pilot program covering CBD treatments, which Trump and CMMS Administrator Mehmet Oz also promised.

Already, at least five “accountable care organizations” (ACO) have applied to CMMS to allow doctors, pharmacies and healthcare providers within their networks offer hemp-derived CBD treatments, CMMS said in a press released Wednesday.

Federally subsidized healthcare coverage for CBD treatments containing up to 3 milligrams of THC is a major step forward for cannabis reform in the U.S., said Jim Higdon, co-founder of Kentucky-based product-maker Cornbread Hemp, which has already partnered with a potential supplier to an ACO.

Trump fulfilled CBD promise despite legal threat

And the CMMS pilot program serves as prelude in another way.

Earlier this week, cannabis reform opponents who have vowed to fight rescheduling filed a lawsuit challenging the CBD coverage program.

The lawsuit, led by Smart Approaches to Marijuana, cannabis reform’s chief antagonist in the U.S., claims in part that the CBD proposal didn’t follow proper procedure laid out in federal law. SAM, which has promised to sue whenever a final rule rescheduling cannabis is issued, is expected to use similar tactics to fight rescheduling.

Trump Justice Department officials know this, one observer told MJBizDaily. And they are prepared.

Chris Roberts can be reached at chris.roberts@mjbizdaily.com.