Governor Polis: Green Light on Rescheduling Cannabis is Smart Policy, Long Overdue

DENVER - Today the Trump Administration announced its intent to reschedule cannabis. This is on the backs of years of work spanning administrations to bring the nation to this point.

"To be blunt, it's far past time for the federal government to catch up to Colorado and many other states and get rid of arcane federal policies on cannabis that aren't based in reality and hurt Colorado small businesses and public safety. I thank the President and am pleased that they are finally taking this step to begin the process to reschedule. For years Colorado has been a national leader in smart and safe cannabis policy that has virtually eliminated illegal markets, ensured safe use, and generated over a billion dollars for education. Colorado's cannabis industry is the gold standard ensuring that products are safe and regulated. It's good to see the federal government finally following suit, but it's frustrating it's taken this long and there is much more to do for a full descheduling," said Governor Polis.

Governor Polis has been a champion for federal cannabis reform for well over 15 years and was a co-founder of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. In April and August of 2021, Governor Polis called upon Congressional leaders to pass the Safe Banking Act. Also in 2021, Governor Polis led an effort with 21 other Governors to encourage Congress to pass SAFE Banking Amendments. In late 2023 he led fellow Governors to call on then-President Biden's FDA to reschedule cannabis, allowing law-abiding Colorado businesses to thrive. In September of 2024, the Governor requested that the state appear as a witness in the matter of the Rescheduling of Marijuana.

In 2020, Governor Polis took Executive action to pardon 2,732 Coloradans who had previous marijuana possession convictions of one ounce or less. In 2021, < /a>Gov. Polis signed a law increasing the amount of marijuana that adults 21 and older in Colorado can legally possess from one ounce to two ounces and signed an Executive Order granting an additional 1,351 pardons for convictions of possession of two ounces or less of marijuana.

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