Breaking news: Cannabis moves from Schedule I to Schedule III

Queenie & TT jump on the mic to talk through the announcement that President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order initiating the move to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III — meaning marijuana would no longer be federally categorized alongside heroin and fentanyl.  

They unpack what this does and does not mean right now, including the required 30-day public comment period, the likelihood of legal challenges, and why this is not an automatic or guaranteed rescheduling. TT explains the potential implications for cannabis research, federal oversight, banking access for cannabis businesses, and why stock exchange listings are still off the table.  

The conversation also covers early reporting about a pilot Medicare reimbursement program for CBD, why this could be a meaningful foothold for older adults, and how rescheduling could finally allow for more legitimate, large-scale scientific research instead of fear-based assumptions.  

Queenie and TT talk candidly about political motivations, expected pushback from the DEA and FDA, the ongoing uncertainty around hemp-derived THC restrictions, and the possible global ripple effects of a change in U.S. drug policy.  

Recorded within hours of the announcement, this episode captures a real-time reaction to a major moment in cannabis policy — with cautious optimism, skepticism, and the clear understanding that we’re officially entering a new phase of the conversation.

Welcome to the Closet Disco Queen Pot-Cast, a #1 ranked Women in Cannabis (Feedspot, Million Pods; 2025) comedy podcast with music and pop culture references that keeps you laughing and engaged. Join our hosts, Queenie & TT as they share humorous anecdotes about daily life, offering women's perspectives on lifestyle and wellness. We dive into funny cannabis conversations and stories, creating an entertaining space where nothing is off-limits. Each episode features entertaining discussions on pop culture trends, as we discuss music, culture, and cannabis in a light-hearted and inclusive manner. Tune in for a delightful blend of humor, insight, and relatable stories that celebrate life's quirks and pleasures. Our Closet Disco Queen Pot-Cast deals with legal adult cannabis use and is intended for entertainment purposes only for those 21 and olderVisit our Closet Disco Queen Pot-Cast merch store!
Find us on Facebook and Green Coast Radio
Sound from Zapsplat.com, https://quicksounds.com, 101soundboards.com #ToneTransfer

Transcript

Queenie (00:03.339)
Well, hello, TT. This is a special edition. Why are we recording today? Share. Do share.

TT (00:04.59)
We are recording because it is a monumental day in American history. President Donald J. Trump has just signed an executive order making cannabis a schedule one drug. No, I'm sorry, a schedule three drug from a schedule one drug.

I had to stop and think about it there. So it is no longer up there with heroin and fentanyl and all that stuff. It is a schedule one drug similar to ketamine.

Queenie (00:38.144)
heroin.

Queenie (00:44.749)
what impact will we assume this will have, anything immediate? Is this like effective?

TT (00:53.95)
No, we have to wait a month. There will be a call for comments. there are a bunch of Republican senators that are not happy. This is not a done deal, although it probably, you know, all the executive orders this guy is signed. They've, you know, unless. Yeah, yeah. So.

Queenie (00:56.053)
A month, okay.

Queenie (01:04.688)
yeah, that or not. So is this not a deal?

Queenie (01:17.105)
All flown through, correct.

TT (01:20.832)
unless there's a legal reason for it not to be, know, unless it's been challenged in court or something. yeah, who knows? Who knows if this is the hill that the Republicans are going to die on to break away from him. That might not be a bad thing. But but I think right now we just have to wait and see. There's that 30 day period. then hold on just a sec. It does not automatically reschedule marijuana.

Queenie (01:35.851)
Well, that's true. That's true.

TT (01:51.31)
There will be a 30 day comment period and there will probably be some lawsuits coming from opponents that don't want weed to be downgraded to a less dangerous substance. So anyway, this comment period is a public comment period. So any of us can contact our legislators and weigh in. Yeah.

Queenie (02:14.111)
Okay.

way in.

TT (02:21.261)
This is interestingly enough also includes a pilot program for reimbursing older folks who are on Medicare for CBD, for CBD, yeah.

Queenie (02:33.548)
Okay, I thought I read that. I've been trying to, when this first came out, I read the article and I saw the reference to Medicare and CBD, this pilot program. So I thought, my goodness, this is great news. And you know, might be a toehold. Anyway, so I clicked out of Facebook, because that's where I saw it.

TT (02:44.685)
Mm-hmm.

TT (02:51.115)
Right.

Queenie (02:58.78)
and I went back in to try to find it. couldn't find it, but you found it. So that's good. I'm glad I wasn't hallucinating.

TT (03:02.637)
I'm reading an article from Forbes, so I think that's probably accurate.

Queenie (03:08.745)
I said, yeah, I...

Queenie (03:14.333)
Mm-hmm. No, I think that's interesting.

TT (03:17.067)
The one of the things that it's going to do is it's going to help us to get more research done. You know, there was just just this big article in today's New York Times and in several different publications and news programs saying that marijuana doesn't do. It's not all that great. You know, it does do some things, but the claims that are being made are not entirely substantiated. Right. So so this will give us an opportunity to see really what what

Queenie (03:36.446)
Mm-hmm.

Queenie (03:41.013)
substantiated.

TT (03:46.574)
clinically worse than what I'm sorry. It was my dog gacking. He has, he's, he's had enough of this baloney. Yeah, she, I don't know what she got herself sniffing, but anyway, the thing, one of the things that's a little bit of a disappointment, it doesn't allow cannabis companies to be listed on the, uh, on the stocks exchanges. So, but it did.

Queenie (03:49.868)
Good God.

Queenie (03:58.932)
That was quite the gack there, Coco. Wow.

Queenie (04:14.246)
TT (04:16.333)
give them, um, the announcement gave, you know, and this started happening last week when he was talking about it, even a bump in sales. I don't know if people were worried to buy now and stuck up or what, but, um, anyway, the, the, um, yeah, what was I saying? Oh, there will, there will be better, um, for businesses, it will be better because the banking will be better for them. That would be much less restricted. Um, but

Queenie (04:23.498)
Mm-hmm.

TT (04:45.665)
they're not going to be able to be on the stock exchange, especially those larger companies that are, you know, pretty big. So.

Queenie (04:51.453)
Well, the liquor distributors are, and manufacturers. I don't see pharmaceutical companies. must have been a bone they had to throw somebody.

TT (04:56.62)
Right.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Right, I'm sure. Yeah.

Queenie (05:05.457)
unreal who knows who knows will i guess we'll wait and see but i think that this is pretty interesting news

TT (05:12.883)
It is so, man, I'll tell you. The other thing is that there will be, I think, a lot of pushback from DEA and FDA. I think they'll both push back because they have not been fans of legalizing ever. you know, there will be the people who demonize it still.

Queenie (05:33.726)
Well, they're his, they work for him now though. Don't you realize that? Nothing's independent anymore. Like the FCC chairman, yeah, Remove the word independent from the agency's mission. and he even testified in front of Congress that they're not independent, basically indicating that they do whatever the orange one wants. So we'll see. We'll see how.

TT (05:39.693)
He runs everything. Yeah.

TT (05:46.774)
He did?

TT (05:58.85)
Well, you know, this is something we've been hoping for and the cannabis industry has been lobbying for for quite a while. I think he, think, frankly, I think he's doing it to take some pressure off of him about all of the things that are going wrong right now. And he's trying to get an easy win.

Queenie (06:07.166)
Yes.

Queenie (06:13.118)
Mm-hmm.

Queenie (06:20.66)
We shall see, especially now, my god, this is just gonna be so, I'm also interested to see since way back when, when this thing was scheduled, made a schedule on drug, it had the impact, the global impact, because of course, the United States predicated foreign aid on clamping down. So I don't know what kind of impact this may have on

TT (06:22.189)
Mm-hmm. I know.

TT (06:34.069)
Right. Yep. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Right, right.

TT (06:50.295)
Yeah, I looked at a BBC report and they didn't say anything about the worldwide impact. it's big news all over.

Queenie (06:51.082)
Who knows?

Queenie (07:04.84)
Well, we're certainly not providing the level of support to countries that we once did, so that leverage is gone.

TT (07:10.251)
right, right? Yep, yep. So yeah, I don't know. We'll have to see how it plays out as always. And we should be hearing fairly soon too about whether or not the Supreme Court's going to hear that case that is before them. I'm thinking they probably won't, but who knows? Who knows? Now this could be a more hot-button issue that they'll want to look into.

Queenie (07:28.475)
interesting.

Queenie (07:34.301)
Huh?

TT (07:39.329)
You know, I think, I think too that I'm not sure how this is going to affect the hemp restrictions either, which are not, you know, they won't be law for another year. So we can kind of see what happens along the way there, but that will put a big crunch on the industry. we'll have to keep, we are, we are in the middle of an interesting time in many, many ways, but yeah. Yeah.

Queenie (07:48.553)
Correct.

Queenie (08:02.93)
Wow.

I guess so. Take with one hand and give with the other. So, well, guess stay tuned folks. We'll keep you informed, but this literally just happened within the last... Breaking news within the last two hours.

TT (08:16.119)
Breaking news. Yes, and it's pretty exciting. It's yeah, finally, finally.

Queenie (08:24.998)
Yes it is, yes it is. Okay, well we'll catch up with everybody at the regular, same time, same station.

TT (08:32.597)
Right, same bat channel.

Queenie (08:34.121)
That channel okay TT. Thanks for jumping on. Bye. Just

TT (08:36.205)
Bye Queenie. Alrighty. Bye bye.