If you blinked in 2025, you might have missed a genuinely historic shift in how the federal government thinks about weed — or at least, you might have missed three of them. The year managed to deliver both the most promising federal cannabis action in modern history and a gut-punch to the hemp industry, sometimes within the same news cycle.
The Big One: Trump Orders Rescheduling
Let's start with the headline that actually deserves the hype. In December, President Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to finalize the move of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. To put that in context, Schedule I is the same bucket as heroin — drugs the federal government considers to have no medical value and high abuse potential. Schedule III is where things like ketamine live. It is a meaningful distinction.
Rescheduling would not legalize cannabis, but it would acknowledge its medical legitimacy, let cannabis businesses actually deduct expenses on their federal taxes like normal companies, and ease some of the research restrictions that have made studying the plant such a bureaucratic nightmare for decades. The Justice Department still has to finalize the rule, so this is not a done deal — but it is the furthest along this process has ever gotten.
The Not-So-Great News: Hemp Takes a Hit
On the flip side, Trump also signed a spending bill in November that included provisions to ban most consumable hemp-derived products — the kind that exploded onto shelves after the 2018 Farm Bill opened the door to CBD and, eventually, a parade of delta-8 and delta-9 products. The ban has a one-year implementation window baked in, which gives industry stakeholders some runway to lobby for a workable regulatory framework instead of an outright prohibition.
Courts, Guns, and the States
The Supreme Court had its own complicated relationship with cannabis in 2025. Justices declined to hear a case that challenged the constitutionality of federal prohibition outright, which was a loss for advocates who had hoped for a landmark ruling. At the same time, the court agreed to take up whether the federal ban on gun ownership for cannabis users holds up constitutionally — a case that could have significant implications for millions of people in legal states.
On the state level, the legalization momentum continues, with more states potentially queued up for ballot measures or legislative action in 2026.
What to Watch in 2026
The rescheduling process, the hemp regulatory fight, a long-stalled cannabis banking bill, and whatever the Supreme Court decides about guns and cannabis users — there is no shortage of storylines heading into the new year. It is a lot to track, but the direction of travel feels clearer than it has in a long time.
Source: Marijuana Moment