The nation’s first White House drug czar is breaking with President Donald Trump over a key piece of the administration’s drug policy agenda: a proposal to federally reschedule marijuana.
William Bennett, who served as education secretary under Ronald Reagan before becoming the inaugural director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said he supports “almost everything” Trump has done in his second term—but not the push to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
“I love Donald Trump. I love almost everything he does, but I don’t love this,” Bennett told Fox News Digital, describing marijuana as a “gateway drug” that harms youth and undermines academic performance.
Cannabis, he argued, “clouds focus and attention, which you obviously should have if you’re going to school.” He added that marijuana “interferes with that, it inhibits that” and claimed that “almost anybody who uses a so-called ‘more dangerous’ drug than marijuana has entered through the portal called marijuana.”
While Bennett acknowledged it is possible to “concede the fact that marijuana can have some positive effects,” he maintained that the drug is “on the whole, a negative,” calling it “massively destructive of attention and focus among young people.” He pointed to declining school attendance and dropout rates as part of what he sees as a troubling broader trend.
Trump directed the attorney general in December to pursue rescheduling, a move that would not legalize marijuana federally but would formally recognize its medical value, ease certain research barriers and allow state-legal cannabis businesses to take federal tax deductions.
A White House spokesperson previously defended the effort as part of the president’s pledge to expand research into marijuana and cannabinoid therapies, particularly for veterans.
On Capitol Hill, reactions have been mixed. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) recently suggested the Justice Department should slow-walk the process, while Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, has expressed readiness to advance reform when the opportunity arises.
The Justice Department has offered limited public updates, saying it is working to identify the most “expeditious” path forward. Bennett, however, said he remains hopeful the effort can be reversed.
“America’s always been a self-correcting society,” he said. “We can correct on this one.”
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