Two days after cannabis users around the world gathered for their annual day of celebration, some are waking up with a renewed sense of purpose as they add their voices to a bipartisan coalition of nonprofits, patient advocates, and lawmakers pushing President Donald Trump to reclassify marijuana’s controlled substance classification.

For decades, groups like the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, operated at the fringes of Washington, D.C. lobbying activity, urging past presidents to downgrade the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s classification of marijuana, which has long been listed as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin, LSD, and other substances considered to be at a much higher risk of abuse.

More recently, President Trump expressed his interest in shifting cannabis to a Schedule III substance, which would allow medical researchers to have greater access to federal funding to explore homeopathic therapies and ancillary benefits of expanded medicinal use among chronically and terminally ill patients.

Conservatives, meanwhile, have become galvanized in some corners over the prospect of expanded access to cannabis fueling revenue for cities and towns around the country. Jeff Brandes, founder of the Florida Policy Project and a Republican former state senator, said reclassification would be both a tangible and totemic victory.

“The government should not infringe on personal freedoms when it comes to decisions that are inherently personal. However, my support for legalization has never just been a matter of ideology; it’s based on a firm commitment to policies that work — policies grounded in evidence, research and the best available data,” he wrote last week in an op-ed to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“This change is not just symbolic; it’s a vital step toward correcting a historic wrong and ensuring that marijuana policy is aligned with current scientific understanding. Fortunately, this change has President Donald Trump’s full support and hopefully, we’ll be able to see his administration get this across the finish line.”

During the height of last year’s campaign, President Trump expressed interest in downgrading marijuana to a less highly regulated substance category, a move that he so far appears inclined to keep.

“As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social last fall.

Slowdowns in the federal bureaucracy are complicating the path to Schedule III cannabis. To officially reclassify, the DEA must hold a series of public comment periods, and advocates are hoping that an added push by the president will get their long-awaited change across the finish line in 2025.

“Today, there is meaningful change finally on the horizon, thanks to President Donald Trump and his leadership in supporting the rescheduling of cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug,” former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote in the Tampa Bay Times last month. “I have always believed that marijuana laws should be rooted in science, not stigma.”