In what should be sobering news for families and public health advocates, the Biden-era push to reconsider marijuana’s federal classification may be picking up steam under the Trump administration — even as scientific evidence points to rising harms from high-potency marijuana.

According to a report from Axios, President Trump has signaled plans to reclassify marijuana under federal law, moving it out of the most restrictive category (Schedule I) and into a lower tier — possibly as early as next year. This would signal a dramatic shift in federal policy on cannabis.

To ignore the science emerging from recent research would be foolish:

• A major study in Lancet Psychiatry found high-potency cannabis is linked to a four-fold increased risk of cannabis use disorder — medical marijuana addiction — compared with lower-potency products.

• As THC potency has climbed dramatically over the past decades, so have serious health effects like psychosis and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (“scromiting”), which increased fivefold from 2016 to 2022.

• THC levels in illegal cannabis seized by law enforcement jumped from 3.96% in 1995 to 16.14% in 2022, and today legal dispensary products can exceed 40% THC — with concentrates up to 90 % THC and little protective CBD.

These trends confirm what many health professionals have warned: higher potency marijuana poses higher risks. (Source citations embedded above.)

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send a message to the White House to let President Donald J. Trump know you oppose the effort to reclassify, decriminalize, or foster the use and sale of high-potency THC marijuana in our culture.

Background

Reclassification disregards decades of scientific research on marijuana’s harms, even as today’s market is dominated by high-potency THC products. The move could embolden broader acceptance and commercial expansion of a drug that public health data increasingly links to addiction and serious illness.

The Axios article makes clear that the White House is considering a plan that would ease federal marijuana restrictions — a shift long sought by Big Marijuana and legalization activists. But as the federal government debates reclassification, more Americans are being exposed to THC levels and health harms previous generations seldom faced.

Rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III sends a dangerous message of safety at a time when addiction and health harms are escalating—bad news for families already struggling with substance abuse. Moreover, this will only increase the public health problem, including:

• The normalization of a drug that medical data suggests is linked to serious mental-health and addiction issues, including psychosis, schizophrenia (especially in adolescents), anxiety, and depression.

• High-potency THC increases risk of hallucinations, paranoia, and suicidal ideation.

• Dangerous road and work sites: marijuana impairs reaction time, judgment, and coordination, increasing risks of accidents and fatalities.

• Regular use of marijuana by young people (25 years old and younger) is linked to:

  • Reduced memory, attention, and learning

  • Lower educational attainment

  • Increased impulsivity and poor decision-making

  • Permanent loss of 6 – 8 IQ points

For parents, pastors, and policymakers, this is a call to look beyond political spin and consider the science, the rising health impacts, and the very real human costs on the ground.

Our county, our communities and our families would not benefit from rescheduling marijuana. Its increasing strength, normalization, and commercialization pose serious risks to mental health, brain development, public safety, and healthcare systems. Federal public policy that minimizes these harms ignores growing scientific evidence and serious public-health concerns.