Just one month after Congress moved to strengthen legislation around the hemp industry, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to support research into medical marijuana for chronic pain.
Pro-marijuana lawmakers across the state hail the decision as a major stepping stone to legalizing the drug for recreational use.
State Sen. Shariff Street (D-Philadelphia), an outspoken advocate for marijuana legalization, called the decision “long-overdue” in a Dec. 18 press release and said it “acknowledges what communities and medical professionals have known for years. Cannabis does not belong in the same legal category as heroin and other Schedule I substances.”
Street has pushed several bills to legalize marijuana during his tenure in Harrisburg and argues current cannabis laws disproportionately criminalize Black and Brown communities.
But Trump’s decision may also hurt advocates’ chances to get recreational use legalized in the United States, according to an addiction researcher.
Is marijuana addictive and if so, how addictive is it?
John Gallagher, an associate professor of criminal justice at Alvernia University in Reading and addiction treatment specialist for nearly 25 years, said the order will help researchers better understand cannabis’ potential for misuse.
He said he would not speak from a professional standpoint on whether marijuana should be legalized, but said his years of research show that marijuana “is absolutely a drug that people can develop a physical dependence and or addiction to.”
“Not everyone who uses marijuana … frequently becomes addicted, but we do know, just like alcohol, marijuana is addicting,” Gallagher said. “And for some people, they can develop an addiction which can have devastating consequences on many areas of their life.”
He said recent data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) shows about 30% of people who use marijuana three or more days a week will meet the diagnostic criteria for cannabis use disorder, which is in the DSM-5, the standard reference book on mental health and brain-related conditions and disorders.
He said research will likely show further evidence on how marijuana should not be used to treat certain conditions. Many people with marijuana addiction or dependency face withdrawal when they cut down their use, which includes chemically-induced anxiety.
“They experience measurable withdrawal symptoms … [like] insomnia, difficult time concentrating, loss of appetite, depression and anxiety," Gallagher said.
Gallagher said many pro-marijuana advocates lie about marijuana’s damaging side-effects. While he said it is less dangerous than Schedule I drugs, it is not harmless.
“Marijuana does not treat anxiety … it medicates the anxiety symptoms. If I'm feeling anxious and I drink a six pack of beer … I'm not feeling anxious anymore, right? The alcohol didn't treat my anxiety. It just medicated it temporarily,” he said.
For people with anxiety, Gallagher said addiction and withdrawal from the drug can create a “vicious cycle.”
“It seems that research is suggesting that not only does [marijuana] not treat the anxiety, it actually exacerbates the anxiety. Because if they (people with anxiety) are dependent, their anxiety gets worse because it's a withdrawal symptom of the drug,” said Gallagher.
Trump’s order does not argue that cannabis is not addictive, but that it is less potentially harmful than Schedule I drugs like fentanyl-related substances. It states that legislation under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) limits research to determine how marijuana can alleviate medical conditions. Under the old classification, researchers and manufacturers were unable to test marijuana’s “safety and efficacy” to properly “inform doctors and patients” on its possible uses.
It argues marijuana, and other Schedule III drugs, have an accepted medical use and a low to moderate potential for physical dependence or high psychological dependence in the case of drug abuse.
The order also highlights that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended to the Drug Enforcement Agency in 2023 it should reduce marijuana to Schedule III regulations because of its medical use to treat chronic pain, anorexia related to certain medical conditions and nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.
It states “chronic pain affects nearly 1 in 4 United States adults and more than 1 in 3 United States seniors, and 6 in 10 people who use medical marijuana report doing so to manage pain.”
Could Pennsylvania become the ‘keystoned’ state?
Many Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, see green when it comes to cannabis.
The governor, a former vehement opponent to marijuana while serving as attorney general, unsuccessfully pushed an adult-use cannabis program in his 2025 budget. It estimated a recreational program would garner the economy $15.6 million from an adult-use cannabis tax, $11.4 million from the sales and use tax on retail sales of cannabis and $509.5 million from license fees.
State Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie), another lawmaker that has proposed several bills over his tenure to legalize recreational use also said after Trump’s order that the decision will “ bolster the existing medical marijuana marketplace.”
“I think it's going to be a significant step in the right direction to get us to a point where we're not criminalizing marijuana,” he said in a statement.
Laughlin voted down a bill in May that would have allowed the state Liquor Control Board to sell marijuana in state-run stores. He said at the time the board would monopolize sales and chase small private-sector sellers out of the market.
State House Rep. Abby Major (R-Armstrong), shared a similar view on the economic benefits of rescheduling cannabis.
"There isn't much on which I agree with President Trump, but rescheduling cannabis is long overdue," she said in a statement. "In 2026, Pennsylvania needs to join every other state in the Northeastern United States and legalize adult recreational use — for revenue, for jobs, for justice."
Kinkead also spoke in support of Trump’s order: “I know this is a topic that sparks strong opinions on both sides, but if you take an objective look at the guidelines, marijuana should have never been classified as a Schedule I drug. I support the Trump Administration’s decision to reclassify it as a Schedule III substance, which better reflects the scientific evidence and could help unlock more research, medical applications and regulatory clarity. While some may disagree, this is a step toward common-sense drug policy reform.”
Both the Senate’s Laughlin/Street bill and House’s Kinkead/Major bill stalled in committee.
