Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Criticizes Rescheduling

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board offers multiple criticisms on rescheduling marijuana in this article and video interview published December 19, 2025. This summary includes details from both the article and the 25 minute video.

A Schedule I drug, marijuana’s current classification means there is “No currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”. A Schedule III drug has some legitimate medical uses and “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” “Yet", the authors tell us, "a recent review of 15 years of research found the evidence of marijuana’s medical benefits to be weak or inconclusive. 'The evidence does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids at this point for most of the indications that folks are using it for,’ said the study’s lead author Michael Hsu." (See Breathe Free USA's review of this JAMA study here). The video interview also notes that marijuana is not an FDA approved drug.

Evidence of potential harm includes:

• 30% of marijuana users will develop an addiction

• A study from 2025 of car drivers who died in accidents in an Ohio county showed that 40% of those drivers tested positive for THC.

• Cannabis soaks into your brain in a way that alcohol doesn't and has long-term health impacts.

• The CDC says cannabis affects the part of the brain responsible for:

  • memory

  • learning

  • attention

  • decision-making

  • coordination

  • emotion

  • reaction time

• Other symptoms include

  • psychotic symptoms, especially at higher potency

  • paranoia and hallucination

  • uncontrolled vomiting, sometimes lasting hours

  • exacerbation of depression and anxiety

• Use patterns are different than with alcohol; the average drinker reports drinking 4 - 5 days in the past month, whereas the average pot user reports using 15 - 16 days over the past month.

• ER visits for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) (nausea and uncontrolled vomiting) are 5 times higher than before the pandemic.

• The potency of marijuana is 4 - 5 times greater than the marijuana from the 60s or even the 90s.

President Trump claimed that rescheduling marijuana will open the door for research, but “the industry can run trials on marijuana now. It simply has no incentive to do so because it can sell its products in most states without Food and Drug Administration approval.”

Kim Strassel, Editorial Board Member, notes in the video that this executive order does not automatically reschedule marijuana. Instead it directs the Attorney General to complete a rule making process in an expeditious fashion. Once that rule is issued, there will be a public comment period. Lawsuits are sure to come in at that point so courts may be involved.

Ms. Strassel also notes that pot shops are technically still illegal at the federal level. Those choosing to run cannabis businesses are choosing an insecure position because, for example, any new president could choose to enforce federal laws.

Full article is available behind a paywall here; the video may not be behind a paywall.

Published on The Wall Street Journal Opinion