Donald Trump loosens curbs on Marijuana, encourages research

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday local time to federally reclassify marijuana as less dangerous Al Jazeera reportedThe move on Thursday requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to expedite the process under the Drug Enforcement Administration for reclassifying marijuanaIn the US drugs and other chemical substances are divided into a fivetier classification system with Schedule I representing the most restricted tier and Schedule V the least as per Al JazeeraMarijuana was previously in the Schedule I category where it was classed alongside potent narcotics like heroin and LSD With Thursdays order it would be fasttracked down to Schedule III in a class with ketamine and anabolic steroidsTrump said the change is not the legalisation of marijuana and he added that it in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug as per Al JazeeraThe change however will make it easier to conduct research on marijuana as studies on Schedule III drugs require far less approval than for Schedule I substancesSpeaking earlier in the week Trump told reporters the change was popular because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that cant be done unless you reclassify so we are looking at that very stronglyThe change is in line with several states that have moved to legalise marijuana for both medical and recreational use That has created a patchwork of statelevel regulations at odds with federal law wherein marijuana remains illegalFormer US President Joe Biden had taken several steps to lessen federal penalties related to marijuana including a mass pardon for those handed harsh sentences for simple possession as per Al JazeeraSuch convictions had disproportionately affected minority communities and fuelled mass incarceration in the USThe Biden administration had also begun the process of reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III but the effort was not completed before Biden left office in January as per Al JazeeraMeanwhile public support for legalising marijuana for recreational use has nearly doubled in recent years increasing from 36 percent support in 2005 to 68 percent in 2024 according to Gallup polls as per Al JazeeraThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever