President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday morning that his administration is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug and should have a decision in the coming weeks. 

During a press conference addressing a broad federal plan to reduce crime and homelessness in Washington, D.C., Trump responded to a question about whether his administration is considering changing marijuana’s classification under the Drug Enforcement Administration’s framework. 

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“We’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over the next, I would say, over the next few weeks,” Trump said. “And that determination, hopefully, will be the right one — very complicated subject, you know, the subject of marijuana.” 

Under current federal law, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug, the same category as heroin and cocaine.

Previous reclassification efforts under the Biden administration suggested lowering the classification status to Schedule III, on par with ketamine and some anabolic steroids, because of medical uses for the drug. Former President Joe Biden made a campaign promise to reclassify marijuana, but was unable to get it through during his term.

Trump supported some attempts to enforce federal statutes on marijuana, conflicting with states that had adopted early legalization efforts. But his stance has shifted in recent years. 

Most notably, Trump supported the Florida ballot initiative in the 2024 election that would have created a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. The amendment received 55.7% of the popular vote, narrowly missing the 60% threshold necessary to pass.

“Some people like it. Some people hate it,” Trump said Monday. “Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana, because if it does bad for the children, it does bad for people that are older than children.”

Trump also said that he has “heard great things” about the use of medical marijuana for pain and nausea management, but has “heard bad things having to do with just about everything else.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump told donors at a fundraiser in New Jersey earlier this month that he was interested in the reclassification. One guest at the event was Kim Rivers, chief executive of Trulieve, one of the largest marijuana companies.

Cannabis company stock prices soared on Monday following both the leaked report over the weekend and Trump’s statements on Monday morning.