What the Trump administration's move to reclassify marijuana means for investors

the trump administration moved to reclassify marijuana under federal law on thursday, shifting it from schedule i to schedule iii. the department of justice said it will immediately reclassify fda-approved marijuana products and items regulated by state medical marijuana licenses. schedule iii puts medical cannabis alongside drugs like tylenol with codeine, rather than heroin. the dea will hold a hearing on june 29 to decide whether to extend schedule iii status to cannabis broadly, not just medical. the change doesn't legalize the drug federally. but ben kovler, ceo of green thumb industries, called it "the first major step towards opening up the product that'll make it much more investable" since nixon's controlled substances act. stocks like tilray, canopy growth and curaleaf saw double-digit gains on wednesday as investors anticipated the announcement. the key near-term benefit: removing the 280e tax burden that prevented cannabis firms from claiming normal business deductions. gerald pascarelli of needham & company said that would mean "better cash flow and a better balance sheet." but he warned that near-term stock moves will be "largely dictated by optimism or pessimism around regulatory reform." speaker mike johnson opposes legalization and calls marijuana a "gateway drug."