Georgia hemp producer welcomes Trump order reclassifying marijuana

President Trump signed an executive order last week to reclassify marijuana, and Georgia hemp producers say it is a step in the right direction.

The executive order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to move marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug, next to heroin, to a Schedule 3, which recognizes its medical use.

Although it doesn’t legalize marijuana, Joe Salome, co-founder of Georgia Hemp Company, told News 10 that the move could help reduce stigma for his customers. 

“This is a win,” he said. “It aligns federal policy closer to science and public opinion. It helps patients with chronic pain, cancer, seizures, all these different things.”

The hemp industry in Georgia faces new challenges in the next year. The legislation that ended the federal government shutdown in November included a provision that significantly limits the amount of THC in hemp products and would ban most hemp products on the market. The bill has a one year implementation period, giving producers until next November to make the changes.

The legislation caused hemp growers and producers with a tough decision of whether to keep producing products or wait to see if the legislation changes.

Although the hemp industry remains under constraints, Salome said the executive order is at least a move in the right direction.

“But I’ve got to think bigger as an industry and respect and understand that this is progress. This is getting us baby steps toward where we’ve always wanted to get. And that’s access to cannabis for everybody without hurdles,” he said.

The Drug Enforcement Agency defines drug scheduling in five categories:

• Schedule 1: No currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse (heroin)
• Schedule 2: A high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence (cocaine)
• Schedule 3: A moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence (ketamine, testosterone)
• Schedule 4: A low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence (Xanax)
• Schedule 5: A lower potential for abuse than Schedule IV and consist of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotics (Robitussin AC)