Trump Touts Medical Marijuana As ‘Substitute For Addictive’ Opioids—But Says He Has No Interest In Using It Himself

Marijuana can “make people feel much better” and serve as a “substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers,” President Donald Trump said on Thursday as he issued an executive order to federally reschedule cannabis and promote access to CBD for therapeutic purposes. He clarified, however, that he personally has no interest in using marijuana himself.

Although the president emphasized that he’s repeatedly lectured his children about abstaining from drug use, he said that “the facts compel the federal government to recognize that marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications when carefully administered.”

“In some cases, this may include the use [of cannabis] as a substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers—they cause tremendous problems,” he said, surrounded by health officials, industry stakeholders and advocates. “This can do it in a much lesser way—can make people feel much better that are living through tremendous pain and problems.”

That said, Trump made clear that he has no plans to use cannabis.

“I don’t want it,” he said. “I’m not going to be taking it, but a lot of people do want it. A lot of people need it.”

Trump’s drug policy positions can be sometimes enigmatic—with a historic cannabis rescheduling order being rolled out amid controversy over weeks of unilateral military operations that have killed dozens of people the administration claims were transporting illicit drugs. But he’s been fairly consistent about his support for medical cannabis access.

He also emphasized at the signing event that this executive order directing the completion of a rescheduling process that started under the Biden administration “doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form—and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug.”

That’s true. Moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) does not federally legalize it. Rather, it recognizes the medical value of cannabis, loosens certain research restrictions and will allow marijuana businesses to take federal tax deductions.

“Forty states and multiple U.S. territories have already recognized the use of medical marijuana,” Trump said. “This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments. It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact.”

The president on Thursday also dismissed the concerns of GOP lawmakers who oppose rescheduling, pointing out that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the reform and that cannabis can help people—including his personal friends—who are suffering from serious health issues.

On opioids, to the president’s point, numerous studies have linked the legalization of marijuana to reduce overdoses and prescriptions of the prescription painkiller, with many concluding that, when given the option of cannabis as an alternative, a significant patient population will opt for the plant.