Donald Trump just delivered on a campaign promise that sent shockwaves through Washington.
The establishment thought they could bury this issue forever.
And Ron Paul dropped one truth bomb about Donald Trump that will have him grinning ear to ear and the establishment in panic mode.
Trump signs executive order reclassifying marijuana
President Trump signed an executive order on December 18 directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
The move allows researchers to study marijuana's medical benefits without the onerous Schedule I licensing requirements that have blocked scientific progress for decades.
"I've never been inundated by so many people as I have about this particular reclassification," Trump said during the Oval Office signing ceremony.¹
The reclassification enables marijuana businesses operating legally under state laws to take ordinary tax deductions for the first time.
Currently Schedule I drugs like heroin and LSD are defined as having "no currently accepted medical use" and "a high potential for abuse."
Moving marijuana to Schedule III — alongside ketamine and Tylenol with codeine — acknowledges what 40 states already recognized by legalizing medical marijuana.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommended the change in 2023 after finding scientific support for marijuana's use treating pain, nausea, and other conditions.²
Trump emphasized the order doesn't legalize marijuana nationwide or sanction recreational use.
"It doesn't legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug," Trump stated.³
But the cannabis industry hailed the move as providing much-needed relief from IRS Code Section 280E that prevented marijuana businesses from deducting standard expenses like rent and payroll.
Ron Paul says Trump took step toward liberty but didn't go far enough
Former Congressman Ron Paul — who campaigned on drug law reform for decades — praised Trump's action while warning it doesn't address the fundamental constitutional problem.
"While President Trump's executive order is a step forward, those who support advancing liberty must continue to press for repeal of all federal drug laws," Paul wrote on his website.⁴
Paul cut straight to the core issue the Trump administration avoided.
The Constitution doesn't give the federal government any authority to outlaw marijuana or any other substance.
"At least supporters of alcohol prohibition understood that a constitutional amendment was needed to impose a national ban on alcohol," Paul explained.⁵
The war on drugs has been the primary excuse for violations of Americans' liberties for 50 years.
No-knock raids that killed dozens of civilians and officers alike became routine starting in the 1970s under President Richard Nixon's drug war escalation.⁶
The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act established mandatory minimum prison sentences that removed judges' discretion and filled prisons with nonviolent offenders.⁷
Between 2010 and 2016 alone, at least 81 civilians and 13 law enforcement officers died in no-knock and quick-knock raids — the majority related to marijuana searches.⁸
Paul argued the drug war enabled unconstitutional searches and seizures, bank reporting requirements on cash deposits, and draconian mandatory minimums that destroyed lives.
"The war on drugs has been a primary excuse for violations of liberties including unconstitutional searches and seizures, 'no-knock raids,' bank reports to the federal government on those making large cash deposits, and draconian mandatory minimum sentences," Paul stated.⁹
The liberty argument conservatives need to embrace
Paul explained the real issue isn't whether marijuana use is wise — it's whether government has the moral authority to stop adults from making their own choices.
"The most important reason to end the drug war is that government has no moral right to stop adults from engaging in a peaceful (even if unwise) behavior like smoking marijuana," Paul wrote.¹⁰
That argument resonates with Trump's base far more than Republican leadership in Washington wants to admit.
When Paul campaigned for Congress in 1996, both Republicans in the primary and Democrats in the general election attacked his position on drugs.
"I explained that the federal government has no authority to outlaw drugs and that the police state being built to stop drug use threatens all our liberty," Paul recalled. "The responsibility for combatting drug use belongs elsewhere, such as with churches and family members."¹¹
Paul won that race because voters understood the drug war threatened everyone's freedom.
The people have been ahead of politicians for years on this issue.
Paul's position wasn't pro-drug — it was pro-liberty.
That's the message Trump needs to embrace if he wants to finish what his executive order started.
A government that can stop people from smoking marijuana is a government that can also mandate vaccines and control how children are educated.
"Laws prohibiting drug use have no place in a free society," Paul explained. "These laws are rooted in the idea that our rights are merely gifts from the government conditioned on our 'good' behavior."¹²
Trump's move helps marijuana businesses and opens research opportunities.
But it leaves the federal prohibition infrastructure intact — ready to be weaponized against Americans whenever Washington decides to crack down again.
The only solution that protects liberty is repealing all federal drug laws and returning this authority to states and individuals where the Constitution intended it to remain.
¹ President Donald Trump, White House Oval Office Remarks, December 18, 2025.
² Department of Health and Human Services, "Marijuana Reclassification Recommendation," Federal Register, 2023.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ron Paul, "Trump Takes a Step Toward Liberty," Ron Paul Institute, December 29, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Peter B. Kraska, "Militarizing American Police," Social Problems, 1997.
⁷ Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Public Law 99-570.
⁸ The New York Times, "No-Knock Raids Investigation," 2016.
⁹ Ron Paul, "Trump Takes a Step Toward Liberty," Ron Paul Institute, December 29, 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
