President Donald Trump’s planned executive order to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, expected as soon as Thursday, also will announce a pilot program to pay for Medicare patients to use CBD, according to six people familiar with the plans.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials have explored reimbursing older Americans that use CBD, or cannabidiol, to help treat their cancer, using the agency’s innovation center that allows the administration to test changes to Medicare without seeking congressional approval, the people said. The CBD pilot program could begin as soon as next year, though plans are in flux, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet made public.
The plans to expand access to CBD, a legal substance derived from the cannabis plant and widely marketed as beneficial for health, are advancing as a broader conversation unfolds within the administration about the popular supplement, which is largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Researchers have cautioned that CBD’s much-hyped health benefits, while tantalizing, largely remain unproven. The FDA has approved only one CBD medication, which is used to treat a severe form of childhood epilepsy.
Trump is also expected to direct the FDA to take steps that could make CBD more widely accessible, said two of the people. The FDA in Trump’s first term considered classifying CBD as a dietary supplement before those plans were ultimately scuttled. CBD lobbyists have urged the White House to make it more accessible, citing the potential medical benefits and political popularity of the idea, but some conservatives have balked at the effort, hesitant to increase access to the mostly unregulated substance.
A 2022 federal survey on national drug use found that about 20 percent of adults said they used CBD to manage pain and other conditions. Many public health experts and researchers have called for further study on the long-term effects of consuming CBD products, particularly at elevated levels.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS and the FDA, referred questions about the pilot program to the White House, which declined to comment. A White House official said that while the president is expected to address marijuana rescheduling on Thursday, any details reported ahead of the announcement would be “speculation.”
Trump in September posted a video endorsing Medicare coverage of CBD, suggesting it could help ease pain, improve sleep and reduce stress for older Americans. The video was produced by the Commonwealth Project, founded by Howard Kessler, a Palm Beach, Florida, billionaire who has pushed to expand access to CBD. Kessler, a longtime supporter of the president and a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club, was among the individuals who met with Trump last week in the Oval Office to discuss his plans to ease federal restrictions on marijuana, according to the six people.
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Trump on Monday told reporters that he was considering easing federal restrictions on marijuana, citing the possible research benefits. Scientists have said that their research into marijuana’s effects has been hampered by the government classifying it as a Schedule I substance, the same classification as heroin and LSD. Federal regulations consider those drugs to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted use for medical treatment.
“We are looking at [reclassifying] very strongly,” Trump said. The president has not commented on his specific plans for CBD.
Bloomberg News first reported that Medicare officials were planning an initiative to pay for CBD.
The planned order may help the CBD industry, which boomed after Congress in 2018 legalized hemp, the cannabis plant from which CBD is derived. Hemp and marijuana are both versions of the plant, but legal hemp contains minimal levels of THC, the compound that gets users high.
CBD is often marketed as a nonintoxicating calming supplement, appearing in gummies, creams, oils, drinks and even pet treats as part of the broader wellness industry.
But the CBD industry has stalled in recent years amid a boom in intoxicating gummies, vapes, chocolates and drinks derived from hemp — products made legal because of a loophole in the 2018 law. Citing mounting concern about the health dangers, Congress last month outlawed intoxicating hemp products, despite objections from the industry that the restrictions would criminalize most CBD products.
Even with the Trump order, the pilot program would likely first need to wend its way through the federal bureaucracy.
FDA investigators in August published findings suggesting a link between high consumption of CBD and potential liver toxicity.
“These findings underscore the need for further investigation on the long-term effects of CBD use, its impact on various populations, and the safety of lower doses commonly used by consumers,” the FDA officials wrote.
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