Only Six Percent Of Marijuana Consumers Approve Of Trump’s Reform Actions, But Most Would Shift Opinion If He Reschedules, Poll Finds

Only six percent of marijuana consumers approve of the Trump administration’s actions on cannabis policy to date, according to a new survey that comes as rumors churn that the president intends to direct federal cannabis rescheduling.

The latest iteration of a quarterly presidential approval tracking poll from NuggMD and Marijuana Moment also found that 51 percent of respondents would be more likely to embrace the current administration if it rescheduled or legalized marijuana.

While some are bullish on recent news that President Donald Trump may move forward with plans to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III, rather than Schedule I, drug under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana users’ support for the president’s marijuana “actions” took a dip over the last quarter.

Just 1.6 percent of respondents said they “strongly approve” of the actions, 4.5 percent said they approve, a plurality of 38.4 percent were neutral, 26.1 percent disapproved and 29.5 percent strongly disapproved.

“I look at this data as evidence that the White House needs to take tangible action on cannabis rescheduling in order to capture the clear political benefit from the audience we poll, cannabis consumers who participate in state-legal, regulated markets,” Andrew Graham, head of communications at Nugg MD, told Marijuana Moment.

“Trial balloons about the imminence of rescheduling won’t cut it,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe an executive directing a move to Schedule III “solves the many problems with how federal law treats cannabis, a legal substance in many states.”

However, “I do think it would benefit the sector and increase access, and that cannabis consumers would notice,” Graham said.

The latest quarterly survey showed an overall dip in approval for Trump for those who use marijuana, dropping from 11 percent in the prior quarter to about six percent this quarter.

The poll—which involved interviews with 448 frequent cannabis consumers who live in states with legal markets and has a ±4.63 percentage point margin of error—was conducted before it became widely reported that the president planned to move forward on the Biden administration-initiated rescheduling process, with timelines for an action ranging Monday to early next year.

Trump on Monday confirmed when asked by a reporter that he is “very strongly” considering rescheduling cannabis, saying the reform “leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify.”

Amid the heightened rescheduling rumors, multiple top congressional Democrats have made the case that the reform would not go far enough—including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) who said the move is only an attempt by the president to “gaslight” voters into thinking he legalized cannabis to boost his “pathetic” approval ratings.

Meanwhile, a major drug testing industry organization is “sounding the alarm” amid reports Trump may soon finalize the marijuana rescheduling proposal, arguing that the reform would “have catastrophic consequences for the safety of the United States workforce and transportation sectors.”

Cannabis industry stakeholders are holding out hope that the reform will be achieved as soon as possible, but opponents—including the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) and Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)—are working to dissuade the administration before a final decision is made. For what it’s worth, a White House spokesperson told Marijuana Moment last week that no actions have been finalized so far.

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have been weighing in on the potential rescheduling decision over the past week—with Democrats like Rep. Alex Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) calling the reform a “no-brainer” and others like Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) pushing back against the proposal.

Trump said in mid-August that he’d be making a decision on rescheduling within weeks. But despite that timeline and the escalating rumors, a White House spokesperson told Marijuana Moment last week that “no final decisions have been made on rescheduling of marijuana.”

The Washington Post reported on Thursday evening that Trump was planning to issue an executive order directing federal agencies to move ahead with cannabis rescheduling.

The outlet also said the president met earlier this week in the Oval Office with marijuana industry executives, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. During that meeting, Trump phoned Johnson, the House speaker, who expressed his opposition to rescheduling cannabis,

If the administration does ultimately enact rescheduling, it would mark one of the most significant developments in federal marijuana policy since its prohibition a half a century ago, with a Schedule III reclassification recognizing that marijuana has medical value and a lower abuse potential compared to other Schedule I drugs like heroin.

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Trump endorsed rescheduling—as well as industry banking access and a Florida adult-use legalization initiative—on the campaign trail last year. The president had been largely silent on the issue since taking office during his second term, until a briefing in August where in response to a reporter’s question he announced the administration would decide on rescheduling within weeks.