What Does Cannabis ‘Pharma Shift’ Mean for US Traceability Systems?

On 18 December 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the US Attorney General to expedite the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug (high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use) to a Schedule III drug (moderate potential for abuse and acknowledged as having medical use).

The rescheduling (expected to take effect this year) will not change the fact that cannabis use remains illegal at federal level, while continuing to be legal in most US states. What it may do, however, is shift the focus of state traceability systems from simple ‘anti-diversion’ to more rigorous ‘pharmaceutical-grade’ compliance, including:

• Shift to cGMP standards: federal reclassification introduces expectations for Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). Traceability systems like Metrc, which currently focus on inventory and tax tracking, will likely need to evolve to support more detailed, auditable data trails required for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight.
• Regulatory scrutiny: Schedule III status increases federal scrutiny regarding recordkeeping and antimoney laundering controls. Traceability platforms will become critical tools for financial institutions to verify the legitimacy of transactions in a newly ‘bankable’ environment.
• State-federal interface: since cannabis remains federally illegal without FDA approval, state systems will continue to serve as the primary enforcement mechanism for stateauthorised markets. However, federal agencies may eventually mandate that these systems interface with federal databases to monitor ‘controlled’ medical substances.