Trump Rescheduling Marijuana Would Be A ‘Game Changer,’ GOP Senators Say

Several GOP senators tell Marijuana Moment that, if President Donald Trump ultimately moves forward with marijuana rescheduling, it would be a “game changer” for future federal cannabis reform.

In a series of interviews on Capitol Hill late last week, Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) weighed in on the pending rescheduling proposal, which Trump said in late August would be decided on imminently after endorsing the policy change while campaigning for his second term.

Sullivan, who has previously sponsored legislation to promote research into medical cannabis for military veterans, said that when Trump “gets behind something, it has an impact,” implying that completing the rescheduling process could move the needle with Republican members on the fence about cannabis reform.

Murkowski, for her part, said that if cannabis is moved from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) as proposed, “it’s totally a game changer.”

“I’m interested. I’m curious that he’s weighing in on this because I don’t know—has he done that before?” the senator, who has previously expressed openness to cannabis banking reform and codifying states’ rights to enact their own marijuana laws, added.

Cramer echoed Murkowski’s point, stating that rescheduling “would certainly be a game changer for the party, and I do think it would be easier to do some of these other things” in the way of marijuana reform, referring to incremental proposals such as those focused on industry banking access.

“Legalization across the board would be a problem, I think, but I wouldn’t put anything past him. I’ve often thought about, what would be the ramifications within our very diverse base on this topic if he went full-throated?” he said. “The increments we’ve talked about before—whether it’s something on the banking side or something a little more than that on the medical side, he could make a change, no question about it.”

“He’s all about that [rescheduling]. He has said it. If he reschedules, that is a big deal,” Cramer said. “I’m open-minded to some of it. I want to be incremental. I want to recognize states are changing the rules already, and we should probably pay some attention to that.”

“I’m not on a personal level comfortable with the rescheduling myself, but you’ve got to be pragmatic about this,” he said. “It changes the conversation for sure—no question about it—in both parties. Between the libertarian right and the far left, they all meet back here somewhere.”

Meanwhile, one of Trump’s longtime advisors, Roger Stone, recently said that his administration has an opportunity to move forward with marijuana rescheduling—or, even broader legalization—in a way that Democrats who regularly tout the reform failed to achieve when they controlled the White House and Congress.

The comments came in response to the president’s social media post late last month where he shared a video that touted the health benefits of hemp-derived CBD, particular for seniors.

The Republican Senate sponsor of a bipartisan cannabis banking bill said recently that Trump rescheduling marijuana would be an “important domino” to advance his legislation.

Whether Trump ultimately decides to move forward with rescheduling remains to be seen. Despite his endorsement of the policy change on the campaign trail ahead of his election for a second term, he declined to restate that support when asked about it during a briefing late last month—though he did say a decision would come within weeks.

The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.