{"id":86397,"date":"2026-07-22T10:24:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/alabama-officials-hold-hearing-on-whether-to-reschedule-marijuana-in-line-with-trumps-federal-move\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:46:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:46:50","slug":"alabama-officials-hold-hearing-on-whether-to-reschedule-marijuana-in-line-with-trumps-federal-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/alabama-officials-hold-hearing-on-whether-to-reschedule-marijuana-in-line-with-trumps-federal-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama Officials Hold Hearing On Whether To Reschedule Marijuana In Line With Trump\u2019s Federal Move"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sends a powerful message to the public that this drug has an accepted medical use, and presents a relatively low risk.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Andrea Tinker, Alabama Reflector<\/strong><\/p>\n

A group of conservative activists Wednesday registered objections to the federal rescheduling of marijuana with the Alabama<\/a> Department of Public Health (ADPH).<\/p>\n

The ADPH held a public hearing following the April decision by the Trump administration to\u00a0move marijuana\u00a0from a Schedule I drug, meaning it has the greatest potential for abuse and least legitimate use, to a Schedule III drug with substances considered to have a low to moderate potential for physical and psychological dependence.<\/p>\n

Former President\u00a0Joe Biden\u00a0planned to have rescheduling occur in 2024, but hearings on the matter were\u00a0canceled in early 2025.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0May, the governing body of ADPH voted to object to the federal rescheduling of marijuana<\/a> to give the agency more time to determine how to implement it. Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, the head of ADPH, said during the meeting that the department \u201cfully intends\u201d to implement the change.<\/p>\n

Activists speaking at Wednesday\u2019s meeting cited several concerns.<\/p>\n

Eagle Forum Executive Director Becky Gerritson said the change would \u201cnot only harm children, but we believe it will worsen Alabama\u2019s mental health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III puts it on the same level as Tylenol with codeine. This sends a powerful message to the public that this drug has an accepted medical use, and presents a relatively low risk,\u201d Gerritson said. \u201cADPH\u2019s policy should follow the evidence, not public opinion or commercial pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Davis, the chief executive officer of the Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), a conservative organization that represents churches across the state, also spoke in opposition to the rescheduling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether we call it medical or whatever we want to call it, or however someone gets it, however it comes to them, whether it\u2019s on the corner street or whether it\u2019s in a doctor\u2019s office or at a dispensary, it doesn\u2019t really matter. The effects can be the same, and so I would just urge everyone, on behalf of our churches across the state, who oftentimes deal with the devastation, to oppose this rescheduling in Alabama,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Susan Short, a member of the public, said she opposed the rescheduling because of the effects it has on teens.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeens do not know that marijuana could possibly make you psychotic at 19 years of age for the rest of your life,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are losing an entire generation of young people because we have normalized and commercialized and glorified this addictive and harmful substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the\u00a0Compassion Act passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2021, a minor under the age of 19 cannot obtain medical marijuana without approval from a parent or guardian and without a qualifying medical condition. If approved, the minor can only receive medical marijuana that contains no more than 3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).<\/p>\n

Callie\u2019s Apothecary, a dispensary in Montgomery,\u00a0sold the first legal medical cannabis\u00a0in the state last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joey Robertson, CEO and president of Wagon Trail Med-Serv, the sole proponent of the rescheduling at the meeting, said not following what is happening on federal level could instill distrust between patients and doctors and the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a controlled program in the state of Alabama that has nothing to do with children outside of those that qualify for those medications,\u201d he said. \u201cThis has nothing to do with the illicit market, which will grow no matter what, and really does not care if the federal government or Alabama reschedules from Schedule I to Schedule III.\u201d<\/p>\n

General counsel for the ADPH said after the hearing a decision must be made after August 5.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Alabama Reflector.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The post Alabama Officials Hold Hearing On Whether To Reschedule Marijuana In Line With Trump\u2019s Federal Move<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cThis sends a powerful message to the public that this drug has an accepted medical use, and presents a relatively low risk.\u201d By Andrea Tinker, Alabama Reflector A group of conservative activists Wednesday registered objections to the federal rescheduling of marijuana with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). TheContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86398,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86397\/revisions\/86398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}