THE executive order signed last Thursday by US President Donald Trump, directing the federal government to move marijuana out of the Schedule I drug category that places it alongside heroin and LSD, and toward Schedule III, a category that acknowledges its legitimate medical value and lower abuse potential, has been described as a historic pivot.

The policy shift was framed as facilitating research and acknowledging the plant’s therapeutic promise — even as it stops short of full federal legalisation or broad decriminalisation.

After signing the order, Mr Trump said people had been “begging” for him to do it, including “people who are in great pain” from ailments including cancer, seizure disorders, and veterans with service-related injuries.

“I think I probably have received more phone calls on this, on doing what we’re doing — I don’t think I received any calls on the other side of it,” Mr Trump said.

It is no secret that, for decades, marijuana’s Schedule I status has been a major barrier to rigorous clinical studies in the United States. It has also limited access to traditional banking, and imposed harsh tax burdens on cannabis businesses under Internal Revenue Service rules.

This executive order, therefore, will unlock clinical research, ease tax pressures, and bring federal policy more in line with the reality that millions of Americans already use cannabis medically under state laws.

America’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) tells us that, while scientific literature is still evolving, there is evidence suggesting that cannabis and cannabinoid compounds can help manage chronic pain, nausea from chemotherapy, spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and certain seizure disorders.

Additionally, the NCBI notes that, “patients increasingly cite pain relief and reduced reliance on opioids as reasons for using medical cannabis”.

However, the medical community notes that there are gaps as much of the clinical evidence remains limited or modest. There is a view, therefore, that more rigorous, federally sanctioned research is essential to properly guide physicians, regulators, and patients.

That, we are told, is precisely the point of rescheduling — to lower the bureaucratic hurdles that have kept high-quality research from progressing.

The development, no doubt, holds potential benefits for Jamaica which has long been associated culturally with marijuana and has already established a regulated medical, therapeutic, and scientific cannabis framework.

Now, the US Government’s rescheduling move will create strategic opportunities to scale production, research, and export. But, as Mr Delano Seiveright, the minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, has rightly stated: “The ultimate impact on banking access, cross-border investment, research collaboration, and wider market engagement will depend on the final details of US implementation and how international compliance and financial ecosystems respond.”

With that caution in mind, our task, if all goes well, is to invest in research infrastructure and partnerships with international institutions so as to generate high-quality clinical data on cannabis products; strengthen regulatory standards to ensure Jamaican medical marijuana is trusted in export markets; promote equitable economic inclusion, especially for communities historically harmed by cannabis prohibition; and forge trade agreements with medical marijuana markets, especially the US, Europe, and Latin America.

As the global medical cannabis sector expands, nations that combine science-based policy, quality production, and strategic trade vision will shape its future. Jamaica has the heritage and the potential, now it needs the policy will and investment focus to capture our fair share of what is a lucrative industry.