Executive Order 14370 directs the Attorney General to finish, as fast as federal law allows, rulemaking to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The order was signed Dec. 18, 2025, and published in the Federal Register on Dec. 23, 2025.
The order states a policy of increasing research on medical marijuana and cannabidiol, known as CBD, so doctors and patients have better information on risks and benefits. It says methods should use real-world evidence, support affordable access, and examine long-term effects in groups such as adolescents and young adults.
Marijuana is now in Schedule I, which the order describes as a category for substances that have no accepted medical use at present, a high chance of abuse, and no accepted safety record when taken under medical supervision. Schedule III, it says, covers drugs with lower abuse potential than those in Schedule I or II, an accepted medical use, and a chance of moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence if abused.
The order says the Department of Health and Human Services in 2023 recommended that the Drug Enforcement Agency place marijuana in Schedule III. That recommendation, the order says, rested in part on more than 30,000 licensed practitioners in 43 U.S. jurisdictions who may recommend marijuana for more than 6 million patients and at least 15 conditions. It also cites a Food and Drug Administration finding of credible scientific support for use against pain, anorexia related to certain conditions, and chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting. The National Institute on Drug Abuse agreed with rescheduling, the order says.
The order says the Justice Department in May 2024 proposed a rule to place marijuana in Schedule III. Nearly 43,000 public comments came in, and the proposal is waiting for an administrative law hearing. The order does not give a date for that hearing.
An FDA review finished in 2023 found scientific support for medical marijuana in anorexia tied to a medical condition, nausea and vomiting, and pain, the order says. It says chronic pain affects nearly one in four U.S. adults and more than one in three seniors, and that six in 10 medical marijuana users report using it for pain. Forty states and the District of Columbia have sanctioned medical marijuana programs, according to the order.
The order says the Schedule I listing has limited research and left patients and doctors without enough guidance on use. It cites a survey in which 20 percent of participating veterans reported using fewer opioids with medical marijuana, and another in which 56 percent of older Americans using marijuana had talked about that use with a provider.
Hemp-derived cannabinoid products are not controlled substances, the order says, but they fall under the same authorities as other products the FDA regulates. The order says one in five U.S. adults and nearly 15 percent of seniors reported CBD use in the past year. It says some full-spectrum CBD products will again be treated as marijuana when a provision of Public Law 119-37 takes effect, because their THC is above that law’s per-container limit. The order does not say when the provision takes effect. It also says a recent study found some commercial CBD products were mislabeled, which it calls a safety risk.
The order directs the Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political, and Public Affairs to work with Congress on the legal definition of final hemp-derived cannabinoid products. The order says that work is to allow access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while preserving Congress’s intent to restrict products that pose serious health risks. It includes agency consultation on a framework and on guidance for an upper THC limit in milligrams per serving, container limits, and the CBD-to-THC ratio.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Director of the National Institutes of Health must develop research methods that use real-world evidence, the order says. Those methods are to improve access to hemp-derived products under federal law and to inform standards of care.
The order says it is to be carried out consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. It creates no right a person can enforce in court against the United States. The order does not say that it revokes or amends an earlier order, and it sets no calendar date beyond telling the Attorney General to act as fast as the law allows.