Trump Weighs Marijuana Changes: 'A Lot Of People Want To See It'

President Trump said he is “looking at” an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance, confirming prior reports while White House officials say no final decision has been made and the DEA would ultimately have authority after a health-agency assessment suggested Schedule III. Cannabis names such as Canopy Growth, SNDL, the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF and Tilray jumped 30–40% on the initial report before pulling back as investors took profits. Reclassification would be a major policy shift—reducing criminal penalties, unlocking research, easing tax and banking constraints and materially improving access to capital for the industry, with significant implications for financing and sector valuations if enacted.

Analysis

President Trump told reporters he is "looking at" an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance, remarks that confirmed prior reports but were followed by White House caveats that no final decision has been made and that the Drug Enforcement Administration would have ultimate authority after a health-agency assessment had already suggested Schedule III. The administration-level commentary creates a credible path to regulatory change, but the timeline and formal mechanics remain unresolved given the DEA's statutory role.

Market participants reacted sharply to the initial Friday reports: Canopy Growth, SNDL, the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS) and Tilray rallied 30%–40% before pulling back Monday as investors took profits; Benzinga-derived signals show a moderately positive sentiment score of 0.45 and per-ticker sentiment placing TLRY higher (0.5) than CGC and SNDL (0.3). The immediate price action reflects event-driven positioning rather than a sustained policy realization.

If enacted, Schedule III status would lower regulatory scrutiny toward that applied to pharmaceuticals, reduce criminal penalties, unlock scientific research, improve tax and banking access and materially ease capital constraints that now force expensive financing—changes that could re-rate sector valuations. Given the 0.55 market impact score and the administration/DEA uncertainty, outcomes range from meaningful structural relief to only transitory volatility tied to headlines.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Trim near-term exposure after the 30%–40% rally and subsequent profit-taking, locking gains while preserving optionality for a confirmed policy shift
• Monitor three binary triggers—formal White House directive, DEA scheduling action, and publication of the health-agency assessment—and use those events to time re-entry or size increases
• If reclassification becomes formal, selectively accumulate better-capitalized and liquid cannabis names or ETFs that can access institutional capital, while using hedges or size limits until regulatory implementation is confirmed