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Forbes Daily Briefing

Where Is Cannabis Legal? A Guide To All 50 States

Forbes Daily Briefing

Forbes

Business, Tech News, News

4.418 Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

President Trump signed an executive order in 2025 directing cannabis to be rescheduled as a less dangerous drug—but a hemp ban is looming later this year. With medical marijuana legal in 40 states, three more could legalize some form of weed sales in 2026.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Sunday, February 1st.

0:05.0

Today on Forbes, Where is Cannabis Legal? A Guide to all 50 States.

0:11.0

Last year ended on a very high note for the cannabis industry.

0:16.0

In late December, from behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed

0:21.6

an executive order directing the Attorney General to complete the marijuana rescheduling process

0:26.5

in the, quote, most expeditious manner. The aim of Trump's executive order is to reclassify marijuana

0:33.6

as a less dangerous drug, which would be the most significant change to the nation's drug

0:38.3

laws since President Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. The change in classification

0:45.0

will not legalize weed, but it will give the cannabis industry a big tax break worth billions

0:50.9

of dollars. While the $32 billion cannabis industry rejoiced at the historic move, the process will not be

0:59.0

quick.

1:00.1

Marijuana is still categorized as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and LSD.

1:06.5

If the federal government completes the process, marijuana will be reclassified as a Schedule

1:11.3

3 drug, which is used for drugs with accepted medical benefits that still have addiction

1:16.2

potential, including steroids, ketamine, and Tylenol with codeine.

1:22.0

Schedule 3 drugs, however, are still considered controlled substances, which means restrictions

1:27.4

will remain on cannabis's

1:28.8

manufacture, sales, and possession. And the patchwork of regulated markets across 40 states that

1:35.1

allow medical sales, and 25 that permit recreational sales, will still be in conflict with federal

1:41.0

law. The timeline for rescheduling cannabis remains murky, as Attorney

1:46.3

General Pam Bondi has not made a public comment on the process. Despite that promise for the

1:52.0

industry, 2025 also delivered a major buzzkill for marijuana's cannabis cousin, hemp. In early November,

...

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