PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at easing federal restrictions on marijuana.
The order directs federal agencies to expedite reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III. President Trump says the move would allow more research into marijuana’s medical benefits, potential risks, and future treatments using cannabis-based products.
The executive order, however, does not legalize marijuana at the federal level.
Cannabis is already legal in several states, including Colorado. The order instructs the U.S. attorney general to speed up the process to loosen federal restrictions, though an official timeline for the change has not yet been released.
The move could affect how cannabis is studied in Colorado. Researchers at the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University Pueblo say the change could reduce some barriers, though major regulations would remain in place.
Director Dr. Chad Kinney says the institute supports cannabis research happening across institutions statewide, with a major focus on public health.
“The largest areas that are currently being supported are in the space of public health and harm reduction,” he said."But conducting cannabis research comes with challenges. Certain compounds associated with high-THC cannabis, you have to get the appropriate DEA license in order to handle it in a safe way. That represents... a research barrier to a certain extent.”
Those restrictions can limit the types of research scientists can conduct. Under the executive order, marijuana would move from Schedule I to Schedule III. It's a shift that could ease some of those barriers.
At the Institute of Cannabis Research, researchers are currently working with low-THC cannabis plants, known as hemp, used strictly for research purposes.
Dr. Kinney says reclassification could have some impact, but not a dramatic one.
“The short answer is we will see some impact, but not a dramatic impact on research,” said Dr. Kinney.
Even with the change, Dr. Kinney says cannabis research would remain highly regulated.
“There might be some changes, and we’ll certainly do what’s necessary to understand how those changes could impact research,” he said.
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Officials told us they believe these fires were caused by downed power lines. The Scripps News Group is working to gather more information and will have a crew reporting the latest updates.
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