America’s irrational fear of marijuana was eased today when President Trump signed an executive order removing pot from the list of Schedule 1 drugs. Marijuana had been a Schedule 1 drug, which put it on par with heroin. Placing marijuana in the category of a Schedule 3 drug allows never before done research on pot to take place.
Often on my talk show, I have talked about how absurd it is for marijuana to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug. No one would be surprised if the liquor industry were heavily behind the push to keep marijuana in the top classification of dangerous drugs. There are studies that show that when pot use increases, drinking alcohol decreases. The liquor industry is trying to protect its territory, but has been doing so at the expense of common sense.
I applaud President Trump for signing an executive order to reclassify pot, but I also sense that this was politically motivated and did not come from his heart. The way Trump seemed to “read” the statement indicated that this was not an issue that he could speak from his heart about.
The timing of this move also indicates that President Trump is trying to win back the younger voters who helped put him in office in 2024. Many young people who were not, and are not, MAGA Trump supporters were a key to Trump’s victory. While MAGA supporters have been convinced by the conservative media echo chamber that Trump won by an overwhelming majority, the truth is that Trump did not win a majority of the vote of the American people and only beat Kamala Harris by about 3 million votes. Still a fair election - MAGA supporters live with the delusional thought that Trump won by a majority. The point is that many Americans who are responsible for Trump’s victory were not die-hard supporters. They were people who thought Trump was the better option at the time. So, efforts like reclassifying pot are an attempt to win back younger voters who the polls say have distanced themselves from Trump. The question is - why are they trying to win back those voters if the president is serving out his second term?
There should be no mistake about President Trump’s intentions to run for an unprecedented 3rd term in 2028. I have no doubt plans are underway now to pave the way to the president securing a 3rd term.
While The Constitution is being disregarded, the one thing that no one should disregard is the health of President Trump. The behavior displayed during Wednesday night’s address to the nation and the recent comment after the murder of entertainment icon Rob Reiner are just two recent reasons for concern. The president is not acting like a normal person. Many celebrate that he is different, but the abnormal behavior of the president should be alarming. Questions about a second MRI, Trump's constant dozing off during Oval Office meetings, which happened again today, and the affliction on his hand are alerting many medical experts to at least ask questions about the president’s health.
Furthermore, the insatiable desire to feed his ego with his name placed everywhere, including the most recent announcement of renaming The Kennedy Center to The Trump Kennedy Center, are not signs of a healthy, rational mind. The fumbling of words and phrases is something we have not seen from other recent presidents. Trump will be highly scrutinized over the next few months and the more the questions rise about his health the more he will react and it can be Trump’s instant reaction to even the slightest criticism that seems to inspire questionable behavior.
Reclassifying marijuana may be an attempt to bring back voters who have strayed recently, but there are questions about whether enough people will want him to run again and questions about his health.