Washington, DC (December 18, 2025) – President Trump has signed an executive order to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) sees this as progress in addressing cannabis overcriminalization but urges Congress to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act (H.R. 5068) or Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act for real justice.
"Rescheduling cannabis is an incremental, imperfect improvement," said NACDL President Andrew Birrell. "While moving this drug from the Schedule I shadow is a small step off the cliff of cruel prohibition, it’s not the lifeline for justice we desperately need. A reclassified schedule still leaves a web of harmful criminal penalties intact, meaning the War on Drugs will continue to ensnare Americans in a failed punishment scheme. The current federal approach has demonstrably failed to enhance public safety, instead diverting taxpayer dollars to enforcement while maintaining needlessly harsh sentences. This overcriminalization has created devastating collateral consequences—the loss of access to housing, employment, and education—for individuals and families. Crucially, the enforcement of federal cannabis law has been defined by profound racial disparities. Black Americans are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Americans, despite comparable usage rates. Even with declining federal prosecutions for possession and trafficking, the average sentence for federal marijuana felonies remains a staggering 37 months, with 70% of those offenders having little or no criminal history.”
The Call for Comprehensive Decriminalization
NACDL maintains that only the full descheduling and comprehensive reform outlined in the MORE Act and Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act can dismantle the systemic injustices of the current federal policy.
NACDL Executive Director Lisa Wayne underscored this necessity: "We must not mistake an agency adjustment for actual absolution. As long as cannabis remains a controlled substance, federal prosecution looms and the chains of conviction remain clamped onto countless lives. The MORE Act and Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act offer a mechanism to truly right the wrong, by descheduling cannabis, expunging prior non-violent convictions, and reinvesting in communities ravaged by this failed policy. This is the decisive, comprehensive decriminalization America is waiting for. These bills would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, ending federal criminal penalties and providing for the automatic expungement of past non-violent federal cannabis convictions, a central tenet of restorative justice that rescheduling fails to achieve. NACDL urges Congress to move swiftly to pass comprehensive legislation and deliver on the promise of a more humane, equitable, and rational criminal legal system.”
Contacts
Jessie Diamond, Deputy Director, Public Affairs and Communications, (202) 465-7647 or jdiamond@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
