{"id":2475725,"date":"2025-08-18T07:54:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-reclassifying-marijuana-would-be-a-huge-political-blunder\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T07:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:56:00","slug":"trump-reclassifying-marijuana-would-be-a-huge-political-blunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-reclassifying-marijuana-would-be-a-huge-political-blunder\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Reclassifying Marijuana Would Be A Huge Political Blunder"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-reclassifying-marijuana-would-be-a-huge-political-blunder%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2475725&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent indication that he is considering downgrading the federal classification of marijuana from a Schedule I too a Schedule III drug, causing cannabis stocks to surge by 25-40%. This move surprised many as marijuana reform was largely expected from the Democratic side, not the Republicans. However, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rising-baby-name-trend-could-become-the-new-normal-is-our-nation-in-danger\/\" title=\"Is the Rising Baby Name Trend a Threat to Our Nation?\">article raises concerns<\/a> about the marijuana industry, highlighting issues such as illegal marijuana farms that exploit immigrant labor and children, ties to criminal activity, and widespread environmental harm due to unregulated pesticide use. It notes a recent Department of Homeland security raid in California that rescued migrant children and arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants involved in these illegal operations, despite violent protests against law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>The piece also emphasizes the increased potency and associated health risks of modern marijuana, including addiction, cognitive problems, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-insane-ivermectin-freakout-left-pushes-actual-horse-meds-for-diy-chemical-abortions\/\" title=\"After Insane Ivermectin Freakout, Left Pushes Actual Horse Meds For DIY Chemical Abortions\">emergency room visits due<\/a> to conditions caused by heavy use. Several states, including Oklahoma, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and oregon, face important problems with illegal marijuana farms often controlled by organized crime groups, notably including Chinese gangs.<\/p>\n<p>The author argues against reclassifying marijuana as of the negative social, health, and environmental impacts, and points out that legal cannabis markets have brought nuisances like foul odors and increased crime. The article concludes that Trump should not proceed with downgrading marijuana&#8217;s classification, warning that it would enable more aggressive promotion by marijuana businesses and worsen the existing problems. The piece is authored by John and Andy Schlafly of the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles institution.  <\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Donald Trump recently said he is considering downgrading the federal ban on marijuana, and cannabis stocks skyrocketed by 25-40 percent on the news. The pot industry had hoped Joe Biden would make this pro-marijuana change during his presidency but never expected it from the Republican side.<\/p>\n<p>Last November, three Republican states defeated heavily funded <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Results_for_marijuana_and_psychedelics_ballot_measures%2C_2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ballot initiatives<\/a> to legalize recreational marijuana. Someone is giving Trump bad advice by encouraging him to give a shot in the arm to cannabis, which is the name preferred by marijuana dealers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/phyllisschlafly.com\/liberalism-and-conservatism\/economy\/the-victims-of-big-marijuana-and-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marijuana farms<\/a> are magnets for illegal aliens and also exploiters of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-builds-back-obamas-middle-east\/\" title=\"Biden Builds Back Obama\u2019s Middle East\">forced child labor<\/a>. Last month, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/news\/2025\/07\/13\/ice-cbp-arrest-least-361-illegal-aliens-during-marijuana-grow-site-operation-rescue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raid<\/a> by the Department of Homeland Security at two of these farms in California netted the arrest of 361 illegal aliens, who included criminals convicted of rape, serial burglary, driving under the influence, and hit-and-runs, according to DHS. At least &ldquo;14 migrant children&rdquo; were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/news\/2025\/07\/13\/ice-cbp-arrest-least-361-illegal-aliens-during-marijuana-grow-site-operation-rescue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rescued<\/a> from &ldquo;potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Federal law enforcement agents had to overcome more than 500 rioters who tried to block these arrests, one of whom shot at the agents while other protesters damaged vehicles, the agency said. <\/p>\n<p>The marijuana farms had licenses to operate, but there are many thousands of <a href=\"https:\/\/phyllisschlafly.com\/liberalism-and-conservatism\/healthcare\/hidden-horrors-of-the-exploitative-marijuana-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">illegal marijuana farms<\/a> today. In California, most of the licenses granted to grow marijuana have gone <a href=\"https:\/\/themarijuanaherald.com\/2025\/02\/californias-legal-cannabis-market-now-has-more-inactive-licenses-than-active-ones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inactive<\/a>, as the <a href=\"https:\/\/phyllisschlafly.com\/featured-top\/putrid-crime-inducing-cannabis-spreads-in-midwest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">illegal grows<\/a> run by criminal gangs have infiltrated the supply of pot.<\/p>\n<h2>Pressure to Reclassify<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the proliferation of crime, much of it by illegal aliens, Trump is <a href=\"https:\/\/phyllisschlafly.com\/liberalism-and-conservatism\/healthcare\/the-big-bad-weed-lobby\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">being<\/a> pressured to reclassify marijuana as a less harmful Schedule III drug, like steroids or Tylenol with codeine. Currently, marijuana is classified by the federal government in Schedule I, which is the category of drugs, including cocaine, that are prohibited for any purpose.<\/p>\n<p>This reclassification by the federal government would enable marijuana sellers to take tax deductions for their business expenses, such as television and internet advertising. IRS Code Section 280E prohibits Schedule I drug dealers from deducting business expenses other than the cost of goods sold, and if this changes, then pot promotion will become pervasive.<\/p>\n<h2>Stronger Drug<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/phyllisschlafly.com\/liberalism-and-conservatism\/healthcare\/thorner-despite-contrary-claims-study-finds-marijuana-more-dangerous-to-teens-than-alcohol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">potency of marijuana<\/a> has sharply increased since a generation ago, as its THC content grew from 3 percent in 1991 to 17 percent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S2451902221000227\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dea.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-05\/2016-17954-HHS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently<\/a>. A 2022 study found that <a href=\"https:\/\/library.samhsa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/pep23-07-03-001.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">12 percent<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >drug-related emergency department visits<\/a> were due to marijuana, most often for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which is severe stomach pain and vomiting that afflicts long-term consumers of the drug.<\/p>\n<p>The Centers for Disease Control <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cannabis\/health-effects\/cannabis-use-disorder.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warns<\/a> that 30 percent of marijuana users develop cannabis use disorder, which includes an increased likelihood of &ldquo;problems with attention, memory, and learning&rdquo; and reckless car-driving while under the influence of the drug. Like many addictions, there is a never-ending, increased craving in desperation by marijuana users for more to attain the same &ldquo;high&rdquo; as before.<\/p>\n<h2>Problem in Many U.S. States<\/h2>\n<p>Voters in Oklahoma rejected legalizing marijuana for recreational use in 2023. The state had been overrun by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OBNDD\/posts\/on-friday-july-11-2025-the-oklahoma-bureau-of-narcotics-marijuana-enforcement-te\/1167085542124018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6,000<\/a> illegal farms, many controlled by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/chinese-organized-crime-us-marijuana-market\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chinese<\/a> gangs. Two months ago, Oklahoma&rsquo;s attorney general announced a drug bust of 40,723 marijuana plants and more than 1,000 pounds of processed marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>While there has been talk about prohibiting the purchase of American farmland by China, the expansion of marijuana farms is a greater problem. In addition to Oklahoma, the states of California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oregon all have a problem with Chinese gangs controlling marijuana operations.<\/p>\n<p>Legalizing or downgrading the classification of pot was not a campaign promise by Trump, but was instead apparently raised by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/policy\/trump-marijuana-federal-drug-classification-01a73b8c?st=pDTr88&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">donor<\/a> at a fundraising event in Bedminster, New Jersey, one of the liberal states that has legalized this harmful drug. Trump&rsquo;s New Jersey country club is not surrounded by the pot operations and their foul odor that have driven people away from California, Oregon, and Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Californians complain about the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/cannabis\/article\/california-expensive-reckoning-smell-legal-20202305.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sewer-like<\/a>&rdquo; smell of marijuana as it has taken over the Golden State in the last decade, without any redeeming benefits. Earlier this year, the Cathedral City town council adopted a moratorium on any expansion or new opening of a cannabis business because the &ldquo;disgusting&rdquo; odor has diminished the quality of life for residents and harms the environment.<\/p>\n<p>The proliferation of illegal cannabis farms, which becomes impossible to stop once marijuana is embraced, has led to rampant use of harmful pesticides and chemicals that are unlawfully dumped directly into the environment<strong> <\/strong>to <a href=\"https:\/\/phyllisschlafly.com\/featured-top\/big-weed-stealing-our-water-and-our-health\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contaminate groundwater<\/a>. Yet liberal environmentalists are mostly silent about this.<\/p>\n<p>In April, D.C. authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/washington-dc\/2025\/04\/24\/dc-weed-shops-illegal-padlocking-50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">closed<\/a> its fiftieth illegal dispensary, in its pot market, then exceeding $4 million in monthly sales, and these drugs may have worsened its crime epidemic.<\/p>\n<p>Trump should not reclassify this dangerous drug.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump considers easing marijuana ban; cannabis stocks surge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3946,"featured_media":2475726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/54355424813_ef766f3b4e_k-e1755127828933.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5561,61328,3634],"class_list":["post-2475725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-marijuana","tag-reclassification","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/54355424813_ef766f3b4e_k-e1755127828933.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3946"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2475725"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2475729,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475725\/revisions\/2475729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2475726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2475725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}