President Donald Trump on Sunday shared a video promoting the health benefits of cannabis—suggesting that covering CBD under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”
As the marijuana industry awaits Trump’s decision on a pending rescheduling proposal, the president’s decision to put a spotlight on the video that was produced by The Commonwealth Project immediately drew the attention of stakeholders.
What the nearly three-minute clip—which repeatedly refers to “hemp derived CBD”—means for broader marijuana rescheduling’s prospects is unclear. But it also comes amid a contentious debate in Congress about federal hemp laws, with some GOP lawmakers vying for an outright ban on cannabis with any trace amounts of THC. Experts say that would effectively eradicate the hemp market, as it’s considered unfeasible to produce even non-intoxicating CBD products without at least some level of THC.
The video Trump posted also briefly features a Fox News clip describing the economic benefits of medical marijuana legalization, saying that on an annual basis it would amount to cost savings of “$64 billion a year if cannabis is fully integrated into the healthcare system.”
“The groundbreaking 2018 Farm Bill championed by President Trump was the first step” toward modernizing health care integrating cannabis, the narration says. That refers to the landmark legislation that federally legalized hemp containing up to 0.3 percent THC, which Trump signed in his first term.
Notably, the video also states that “it’s time to educate doctors on the endocannabinoid system, provide Medicare coverage for CBD and give millions of seniors the support they deserve.”
At a time when certain senior lawmakers, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), are pushing for policy changes that threaten to upend the CBD market, touting a promotion that calls for Medicare coverage of the cannabinoid is notable.
“You will deliver the most important senior health initiative of the century, cementing your legacy and transforming aging care,” it says. “Millions everywhere will thank you.”
While Trump didn’t directly comment on the video in his post, here’s a transcript:
“You can revolutionize senior health care. We’ve all heard about the major systems in our bodies—like the digestive, respiratory, nervous and cardiovascular systems–but there’s one essential system discovered in the 90s that you probably never heard of. It makes all of the other systems work smoothly with each other, like a conductor ensuring the different sections of an orchestra all play a beautiful symphony together.
This system is called the endocannabinoid system. It has been acknowledged and studied by scientists extensively, with support from the National Institutes of Health. As we age, the system weakens. As a result, the different systems in our body stop working together smoothly. That’s one of the reasons older adults struggle with pain, inflammation, cognitive decline and other ailments of aging for which doctors often prescribe dangerous and addictive pharmaceuticals. They also recommend lifestyle remedies such as exercise, good diet and stress management. And while all these improve the system, it is only fractionally and over a long time.
But here’s the game changer: The system can be restored faster using hemp-derived CBD. When the system is restored, pain subsides, sleep is improved and stress is reduced. When the system is restored, disease progression can slow down, and years are added to your life—as well as years spent in good health.
And 20 percent of seniors are already using CBD today for pain, arthritis, cancer, symptoms, sleep disorders, Alzheimer’s and many other ailments of aging. But doctors are not equipped to provide guidance, and there are no FDA standards for what is already in the market today. Imagine if that were the case for other medications. Older adults are suffering needlessly. Hemp-derived CBD can help them feel better, live longer and improve their quality of life significantly.
[Fox News clip:] A Price Waterhouse Coopers report estimates annual cost savings for the U.S.: nearly $64 billion a year if cannabis is fully integrated into the healthcare system.
The groundbreaking 2018 Farm Bill championed by President Trump was the first step. Now it’s time to educate doctors on the endocannabinoid system, provide Medicare coverage for CBD and give millions of seniors the support they deserve. You will deliver the most important senior health initiative of the century, cementing your legacy and transforming aging care. Millions everywhere will thank you.”
The group that produced the video, the Commonwealth Project, was a participant in since-stalled hearings on the marijuana rescheduling process that was initiated by the Biden administration. It submitted a comment to the federal docket arguing that the “historic” proposal would provide for “greater, but not complete, certainty for seniors, researchers, and physicians to engage in research or pilot health care projects that examine the benefits and distribution of medical cannabis.”
Meanwhile, a new poll shows that a majority of Americans don’t consider marijuana dangerous, though most do think consuming cannabis increases the likelihood that people will transition to using more dangerous drugs.
The poll is one of the latest temperature checks on American sentiment toward drug policy as Trump weighs a proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
And while a leading prohibitionist group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), recently claimed a poll they commissioned demonstrated majority opposition to rescheduling, a policy change that Trump endorsed on the campaign trail, the result flies in the face of multiple other national surveys showing support for reform that goes beyond rescheduling.
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Another recent survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate Partners, showed that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.
A poll released in June that Marijuana Moment partnered on with the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD showed that a majority of marijuana consumers disapprove of the Trump administration’s actions on cannabis policy to date, but there’s also a significant willingness among users to shift their position if the federal government opts to reschedule or legalize marijuana.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
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