On May 21, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. The change would ease federal restrictions on medical cannabis.
A longtime drug policy reform advocate says he spoke with a White House staffer at an event last week and was invited to submit a proposal outlining why President Donald Trump should back federal marijuana legalization.
At Americans for Tax Reform’s (ATR) weekly “Wednesday Meeting” of conservative activists hosted by Grover Norquist last week, Citizens Against Prohibition (COP) drug policy specialist Howard Wooldridge said a White House representative welcomed proposals from all attendees—and he was able to personally discuss his plan to advise the administration to adopt a pro-legalization position.
“I got a couple minutes with her, just one-on-one, and basically gave her the basics that my organization of law enforcement and citizens would like to see an end to the drug war and make it a medical issue in the macro,” Wooldridge told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday.
A longtime drug policy reform advocate says he spoke with a White House staffer at an event last week and was invited to submit a proposal outlining why President Donald Trump should back federal marijuana legalization.
At Americans for Tax Reform’s (ATR) weekly “Wednesday Meeting” of conservative activists hosted by Grover Norquist last week, Citizens Against Prohibition (COP) drug policy specialist Howard Wooldridge said a White House representative welcomed proposals from all attendees—and he was able to personally discuss his plan to advise the administration to adopt a pro-legalization position.
“I got a couple minutes with her, just one-on-one, and basically gave her the basics that my organization of law enforcement and citizens would like to see an end to the drug war and make it a medical issue in the macro,” Wooldridge told Marijuana Moment.
“She was very open to any and all suggestions coming to that particular meeting, because it obviously is a friendly environment for someone who’s coming from the Trump White House,” he said. “She was certainly a good listener.”
A hearing to evaluate the proposal was initially set for January 21, 2025, but a DEA administrative law judge cancelled the session eight days prior, pending an interlocutory appeal.
The cancellation followed the denial of a motion to reconsider, which had been filed in November 2024 by Village Farms International, Hemp for Victory, and the Connecticut Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman in connection with alleged ex parte communications. The judge granted the movants permission to file an appeal to the DEA administrator and ordered a joint status update every 90 days.
On February 6, 2025, the Connecticut Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman and The Doc App withdrew from the proceedings, leaving Hemp for Victory and Village Farms International as the remaining proponents.
Legal groundwork for this initiative builds on the Agricultural Act of 2014 and the 2018 Farm Bill, which have expanded the cannabis market while maintaining FDA oversight. On January 16, 2025, the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine released a request for information regarding cannabis-derived products in veterinary medicine, with comments accepted until April 16, 2025.
President Trump, whose administration now guides these reforms, previously stated his intention to “focus on research to unlock medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws.” His nominee for DEA administrator, Terrance C. Cole, along with acting administrator Derek Maltz, have expressed opposition to cannabis reform.
