The Trump administration’s executive order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana took effect after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed it on April 24, drawing both praise and criticism from advocates and drug-policy experts who say the change does not reach people already trapped in federal cannabis sentences.
Blanche’s order reclassifies licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, moving it away from a Schedule I label that had grouped it with drugs like heroin. The major policy shift, advocates said, reduces the federal classification barrier for the medical marijuana industry and for researchers, but it does not amount to broad legalization. The order still leaves marijuana illegal under federal law for use beyond regulated medical programs, experts said.
Several advocates focused on what the order did not do: it does not address current penalties for possessing or selling marijuana, and it does not address the punishments being served by people with yearslong federal sentences tied to marijuana. Jason Ortiz, director of strategic initiatives for the Last Prisoner Project, said, “While this is a victory, the fight is far from over,” contrasting the rescheduling with what many prisoners and their families say they still need.
For some incarcerated people, the road to relief is not only legal but also logistical and personal. Hector Ruben McGurk, 66, has been serving life without the possibility of parole since 2007 for transporting thousands of pounds of marijuana and money laundering and is currently imprisoned in Beaumont, Texas, more than 800 miles from his son’s El Paso home. McGurk’s daughter-in-law, Ferna Anguiano, said the distance has made it hard to visit and that the family has struggled to find a path to lobbying for his release.
Anguiano said, “His release date is death,” adding that people can move in and out of prison after coverage of major cases, but that her family has not found a similar route for McGurk. She said visits and communication rely on phone calls and a prison texting service, and that relatives worry about McGurk’s health and his diabetes management, describing coming home as a hope for him. Anguiano also said, “He deserves a second chance,” and that he has served enough time for what she called a “poor decision” made earlier in his life.
While advocates described the executive order as a step toward destigmatizing marijuana, drug-policy experts said schedule changes alone do not automatically translate into shorter or different sentences for everyone convicted under federal marijuana laws. Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, said, “Even if marijuana were to be moved to Schedule V, those criminal penalties would still exist and there are mandatory minimums for simple possession.” Packer’s point was that marijuana-specific penalties and sentencing structures can persist even after a scheduling shift.
Advocates also said the benefits of rescheduling may not be distributed evenly. They noted that studies have found Black Americans are roughly 3.7 to 4 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Americans even though usage rates are roughly the same across racial groups, and they said federal-level marijuana cases have tended to involve large numbers of Hispanic and Black people serving federal drug sentences. Marta Nelson, director of sentencing reform at the Vera Institute of Justice, said many advocates want Congress and the public to focus on broader changes such as regulating marijuana in the way alcohol or tobacco is handled.
Packer said that because business owners with state medical marijuana licenses are predominantly white, the tax relief created by rescheduling could also produce a lead for mostly white businesses and that equity programs may not close the gap. Packer said the order will “widen the gap, the financial disparities, the business disparities that currently exist between Black and brown, Latino and white owners in the cannabis industry because licenses were not distributed equitably.”
As lawmakers and advocates look ahead, they pointed to several possible next steps aimed at people with existing records. In theory, Trump could issue a blanket pardon, but Nelson said she viewed that as highly doubtful. Instead, Nelson said an impactful next step would be for Congress to outline comprehensive legislation addressing existing marijuana-related convictions, expungements and industry regulations, while organizations including the Last Prisoner Project planned to renew a dialogue with federal lawmakers, including the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.
Ortiz said advocates also wanted states to rethink their own marijuana classifications and penalties, pointing to the way state controlled-substance systems can remain tied to federal definitions. Ortiz said, “It is imperative that every state review their situation, as a lot of their controlled substances at the state level are tied to the federal government,” adding that other states would need public pressure to choose what he called the right approach.