{"id":245063,"date":"2026-04-24T17:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245063\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:42:31","slug":"marijuana-downgraded-by-doj-but-florida-law-still-rules-in-tallahassee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245063\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana downgraded by DOJ, but Florida law still rules in Tallahassee"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s move to reclassify marijuana<\/a> from a dangerous Schedule I drug to one with accepted medical uses isn\u2019t expected to change the way police and prosecutors in Tallahassee handle cases involving weed.<\/p>\n

On April 23, the Department of Justice moved marijuana products that are either licensed by states for medical use or approved by the Food and Drug Administration from Schedule I \u2013 a group of dangerous drugs that includes cocaine and heroin \u2013 to Schedule III, a less tightly regulated group that includes numerous prescription medicines.<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who signed the order reclassifying pot, said in a statement that\u00a0DOJ\u00a0was \u201cdelivering on President Trump\u2019s promise\u201d to expand Americans\u2019 access to medical marijuana treatment options.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n

The marijuana industry \u2014 including major Tallahassee-based players, one considered \u201cthe Trump whisperer\u201d \u2014 hailed the move.<\/p>\n

On the law enforcement side, however, State Attorney Jack Campbell said it would have no impact on the way he approaches marijuana, which remains illegal without a medical card.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real question is whether the Legislature will follow suit,\u201d he said. \u201cCould the Legislature legalize weed? Maybe. But … I\u2019m the state attorney, so I enforce Florida law. Here in Florida, it\u2019s against the law to possess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law enforcement in Tallahassee and Leon County don\u2019t make many marijuana-related arrests. Since the start of the year, only 15 people have been booked into the Leon County Detention Facility on pot charges, according to online booking reports.<\/p>\n

One was charged with trafficking, another with smuggling weed into a detention center and a third with multiple drug offenses, including the sale of meth. The others mostly involved people who failed to appear in court in years-old cases or were wanted in out-of-state cases that included other more serious charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s very, very, very few,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cUsually it\u2019s we arrest you for something else, and you happen to have marijuana in your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell, chief state prosecutor for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties, said marijuana is still a factor in violent crime, with links to shootings, and\u00a0DUIs\u00a0and DUI\u00a0manslaughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem I see with marijuana is the violence that comes out of it,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause this is by far our most popular illegal drug, and we get a lot of violence of people buying, selling and robbing in those circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trulieve CEO: First ‘meaningful policy shift’ on cannabis in American history<\/p>\n

Trulieve\u00a0Cannabis Corp, one of the nation\u2019s leading cannabis companies and the biggest grower of medical marijuana in Florida, issued a statement applauding the move by the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Administration is delivering on its promise to address long overdue cannabis reform by rescheduling medical marijuana,\u201d said\u00a0Trulieve\u00a0CEO Kim Rivers. \u201cPresident Trump and Attorney General Blanche have, through this final order, completed the first ever meaningful policy shift related to cannabis in the history of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CEO<\/p>\n

CEO of Trulieve Kim Rivers holds a product safety tour at the Trulieve Tallahassee Dispensary to discuss product safety measures, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.<\/p>\n

Rivers,\u00a0cofounder\u00a0of the company, which started with a single Tallahassee-based dispensary, personally lobbied the president for the reclassification, according to a recent profile in Forbes magazine, which dubbed her \u201cthe Trump whisperer.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was at the White House on Dec. 18, 2025, when Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to\u00a0redesignate\u00a0marijuana as a less dangerous drug.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy rescheduling medical marijuana to Schedule III, American-led research, utilizing products that Americans are consuming, can begin in earnest and will shape the future state of cannabis in this country,\u201d Rivers added in the statement. \u201cTrulieve\u00a0welcomes this decisive action to more closely align federal policy with current medical practice and state laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has led efforts to quash amendments opening Florida to recreational marijuana, was far less enthusiastic in his reaction. He said the rescheduling of the drug would have no effect in Florida, noting the state already has a medical marijuana law that has fostered a thriving cannabis industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see a lot of these stores around the state and I don\u2019t necessarily think it\u2019s a good thing, but it is what it is,\u201d DeSantis said when asked about Trump’s action. “And so that’s been something that’s been on the books in Florida and something we’ve provided for a number of years now.”<\/p>\n

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Trump’s marijuana reclassification bumps up against Florida law<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump\u2019s move to reclassify marijuana from a dangerous Schedule I drug to one with accepted medical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[107931,107930,409,28,85766,4067,107928,232,234,233,24384,107929],"class_list":{"0":"post-245063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-attorney-general-blanche","9":"tag-dangerous-drug","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-food-and-drug-administration","13":"tag-jack-campbell","14":"tag-medical-use","15":"tag-tallahassee","16":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","17":"tag-tallahassee-news","18":"tag-tallahassee-based","19":"tag-todd-blanche"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}