HARRISBURG, Pa. (FN) \u2014 Pennsylvania lawmakers pushing to ease marijuana restrictions say President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order reclassifying the drug has given them fresh optimism that recreational cannabis could soon be legalized in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Trump signed an order moving marijuana from a Schedule I drug \u2014 the strictest federal category \u2014 to Schedule III, a change that allows for expanded medical research and reduces federal penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s overdue,\u201d said Democratic state Rep. Emily Kinkead. \u201cWe should have rescheduled marijuana long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic Rep. Dan Frankel, chair of the House Health Committee, said the move strengthens Pennsylvania\u2019s existing medical marijuana program and lays groundwork for adult\u2011use legalization. \u201cIt will bolster the marketplace and help us stop criminalizing marijuana,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Frankel and Kinkead have introduced legislation to create a legal recreational cannabis market. Kinkead noted that Trump\u2019s action could give hesitant Republicans political cover. \u201cI am even more optimistic than I was that we are going to get legalization of recreational cannabis done in Pennsylvania in 2026,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her bill already has bipartisan support, including a co\u2011sponsor in Republican Rep. Abby Major. \u201cI look forward to building off the momentum of rescheduling by working with my colleagues to deliver what 74% of Pennsylvanians want: adult\u2011use cannabis,\u201d Major said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not all Republicans are on board. Several federal GOP lawmakers urged Trump to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug, citing health risks, impaired driving, and workplace concerns. The president moved forward with the change despite their objections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kinkead said the decision reflects broad national support. \u201cOverwhelmingly, people support legalization of marijuana, and it is bipartisan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frankel cautioned that implementation will take time as agencies adjust. \u201cIt\u2019s a significant step toward creating an environment where people can purchase medical marijuana without worrying about federal criminal penalties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, only medical marijuana is legal in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers say Trump\u2019s order could accelerate the push to expand access and bring recreational cannabis to the state by 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HARRISBURG, Pa. (FN) \u2014 Pennsylvania lawmakers pushing to ease marijuana restrictions say President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order reclassifying the drug has given them fresh optimism that recreational cannabis could soon be legalized in the state. On Thursday, Trump signed an order moving marijuana from a Schedule I drug \u2014 the strictest federal category \u2014 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,20,5,1138],"tags":[2514,473,2515,2509,2510,100,42,2512],"class_list":["post-25251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-health-fitness","category-international","category-politics","tag-cannabis-criminalization-debate","tag-donald-trump","tag-drug-policy-reform-america","tag-emily-kinkead","tag-pennsylvania-lawmakers","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-trump","tag-u-s-marijuana-policy-shift"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trump-and-marijuana.webp?fit=474%2C315&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25254,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25251\/revisions\/25254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}