Trump Rejected ‘Half-Assed’ Plan To Move Marijuana To Schedule II During ‘Insane’ Oval Office Meeting, ScottsMiracle-Grow CEO Says

The head of the major gardening supply company Scotts Miracle-Gro says President Donald Trump called a proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II—rather than Schedule III, as he ultimately directed last week—a “half-assed” move amid “hardcore arguing” in discussions about the reform.

Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO Jim Hagedorn—whose Hawthorne Gardening Company unit provides supplies for cannabis growers—told NewsNation that a two hour and 15 minute meeting in the Oval Office about rescheduling this month was “insane,” with heated debate over the policy change “led by the president.”

“I could see that the president was sympathetic, but I could also see there was tension in the air. He led the meeting,” he said. “The president rightfully said, ‘We’re not doing [Schedule II]—II is a half-assed version of III. We’re doing III or we do nothing.'”

Hagedorn—who said back in August that Trump had told him directly “multiple times” that he intended to see through the marijuana rescheduling process—took some credit for the president’s decision to sign an executive order directing the attorney general to complete the marijuana rescheduling process.

He said that, “if it hadn’t been our willingness to stand behind it and see it through,” the Hawthorne Gardening Company would have “gone out of business.” He added that multiple cannabis companies have gone under as the reform sat in flux.

The CEO was among many stakeholders to weigh in on the president’s order on rescheduling, which would not federally legalize marijuana but would send a symbolic message while loosening certain research restrictions and allow cannabis businesses to take federal tax deductions under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.

“With 39 states already legalizing cannabis in some form, rescheduling to a lower level drug on the federal level has been long overdue,” he said. “President Trump deserves credit and praise for taking this bold action, as it reflects the will of the people and sets the stage for much-needed research into the medical use of cannabis.”

Scotts Miracle-Gro, meanwhile, has also lobbied at the federal level on cannabis issues such as marijuana industry banking access.

Trump’s decision to advance rescheduling came at the behest of other cannabis and cannabis-adjacent entrepreneurs as well, including the CEO of the multi-marijuana business Trulieve.

Meanwhile, a GOP senator suggested last week that that Trump lied when he said during the signing ceremony for a marijuana rescheduling executive order that he hadn’t received any calls in opposition to the reform.

During last week’s event, Trump noted strong public support for marijuana reform and said numerous people called him to voice support for cannabis rescheduling.

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.