Editorial: Is it finally time for legal marijuana in Pennsylvania?

President Donald Trump is mulling a move on marijuana.

The president said Monday his administration was considering rescheduling the substance, moving it from Schedule I to a Schedule III.

Scheduled drugs are medications or other substances classified based on their impacts. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, meaning it has no medical use, can be abused and carry addiction risks. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD and ecstasy.

Schedule III drugs may still have abuse potential and dependency risks, but also have specific medical use, like lower doses of codeine, ketamine, steroids and testosterone.

If the schedule was changed for marijuana, it could affect criminal penalties, opening the possibility of decriminalizing its use. That’s good news for the limbo that exists for users.

Right now the nation is a patchwork of permission, with 41 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico making it legal in some capacity for medical use. In some places, that means marijuana itself is OK while in others it might be CBD or THC oils. Many of those have decriminalized marijuana possession. Separately, 24 states have made recreational marijuana legal.

That means that the majority of the country has legal access to marijuana in some form or for some purpose.

But for a president whose focus has been business, perhaps the driving force is less about standardizing laws than it is about the bottom line. The classification makes it hard for marijuana companies to do business. They have banking issues and tax problems. Investment isn’t easy.

That made it no surprise when stocks in related companies jumped after Monday’s comments.

Trump’s move may sound familiar. A similar effort was dangled by the Biden administration in May 2024, in keeping with a slate of pardons in 2022.

Pennsylvania, which has legal medical marijuana, has long been toying with the idea of legalizing recreational use. Trump’s consideration might be a gateway to moving forward on that.

It has potential to generate tax income for the state, as well as ease the number of possession cases that clog courts. It has bipartisan support and legislation on the table, like House Bill 20, introduced by state Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Brighton Heights, and state Rep. Abby Major, R-Ford City.

If the federal government is looking to reschedule and pave the way for decriminalization, it may be time for Pennsylvania to consider its next steps.