Making cannabis a Schedule III drug is unlikely to change things for most security clearance holders and applicants any time soon. President Trump directed the attorney general to move forward with rescheduling marijuana December 2025, but federal rulemaking is seldom quick. Litigation may stall or halt rescheduling altogether.

Until the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) update and promulgate guidance on medical marijuana, other agencies—including the Security Executive Agent—are unlikely to change their own marijuana policies.

Change Must Happen Across Multiple Federal Agencies

At the signing of EO 45470, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz claimed CBD would be made available to Medicare recipients as soon as April 2026. That has not happened. It cannot happen until the FDA approves CBD for therapeutic use. Federally legal medical marijuana will not be available without FDA approval, which itself requires an extensive process with miles of red tape.

We are years away from medical practitioners issuing federally valid prescriptions for cannabis-derived medication. Rescheduling would make it easier for researchers to access and study cannabis. This is a necessary step to furnish the data required to apply for FDA approval of a drug. The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act has been in effect since 2022, which may help along the process. But it will likely still take several years minimum for FDA-approved cannabis to hit the market (if rescheduling is successful at all).

Prescription Medical Marijuana Use After Rescheduling

States with legalized medical marijuana often treat cannabis prescriptions as a “permission slip” for access to myriad cannabis products. That is not how federally valid prescriptions operate, however. Unless the FDA implements a new process unique to marijuana, prescriptions will be issued for a single medication at a specific dosage for a limited duration.

Drugs containing cannabis will be approved for a specific therapeutic use. Doctors may prescribe a drug for an off-label purpose, but there must be a medically sound reason for doing so. As of now, there are only a few FDA-approved drugs containing cannabis derivatives (e.g., for the treatment of seizures for specific conditions).

The joints and gummies available at many state-legal dispensaries are highly variable. More likely, the FDA would approve drugs containing a purified cannabis-derivative or synthesized cannabinoids, rather than “marijuana” in general or “sativa” in particular.

Remaining Concerns for Security Clearance Holders after Rescheduling Marijuana

Potential issues for security clearance holders will remain following reclassification of cannabis to Schedule III, including:

Guideline H, Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse & Testing Positive for Marijuana

A few issues remain here for security clearance holders who fail a drug test. If you have a state-legal medical marijuana prescription and test positive for marijuana, your state prescription will not mitigate a positive drug test. State-legal medical marijuana is not federally legal medical marijuana.

Marijuana is currently a Schedule I substance; possession is a federal crime. Reclassifying marijuana as Schedule III will not mean open season for security clearance holders. Possession of a Schedule III drug without a valid prescription is also a federal crime. 21 USC §844. Anabolic steroids are a Schedule III substance approved for medical use, but that does not mean anyone with a relevant diagnosis can lawfully possess and use as much as they like.

If in the future you are prescribed an FDA-approved marijuana-containing drug, and your system contains an amount of cannabinoids in line with the FDA-recognized therapeutic dosage, this would not be a crime. However, that does not mean it wouldn’t pose a security concern or raise questions about your reliability.

Guideline I, Psychological Conditions

For those with a clearance who use marijuana for mental health concerns, this might open the door for concerns under Guideline I. Either the underlying condition or the medical marijuana used to treat it may raise questions about one’s reliability and trustworthiness. Adjudicator’s evaluation of treatment plans and prognoses will hinge upon FDA guidance and Orange Book updates. This will provide guidance regarding the safety and effectiveness of cannabis and its derivatives for a given condition as well as establish therapeutic dosage amounts.

Guideline J, Criminal Conduct & Prior Illegal Use

If Marijuana is rescheduled—or even legalized for recreational use—that change would not retroactively apply to security clearance adjudications. For example, if marijuana becomes federally legal in 2028, and you declare marijuana use back in 2026 when cannabis use was still a federal crime, that is a security concern. The issue is not only the marijuana use itself. It is your unwillingness to follow laws, rules, and regulations. What matters is: your use of marijuana violated federal law at the time the activity took place.

SEAD-4 guidance has been updated in the past to reflect changing norms relating to marijuana and state-level legalization. Past cannabis use is relevant to security determinations, but not determinative: some history of marijuana use can be successfully mitigated. It is possible the Security Executive Agent will issue new guidance in response to federal changes in marijuana’s legal status, but it is unlikely such guidance would make any past marijuana use irrelevant to adjudications.

SEAD-4 Adjudicative Guidelines Have Not Changed

For security clearance purposes, there is a distinction between what is illegal versus what poses a security concern. Demonstrating good judgment, trustworthiness, and reliability presents a far higher bar than legality. Not all violations of the thirteen adjudicative guidelines are federally illegal activities. State-legal mobile sports betting is not federally illegal, for example, but legal gambling beyond one’s means may still pose a security concern under Guideline F.

When federal law changes, SEAD-4 does not automatically change with it. The Security Executive Agent would still need to update guidance regarding marijuana use. We cannot know what changes might be made or when. It is highly unlikely any such updates would happen before policy changes at the DEA and FDA, both of which may take several years yet.

Stay tuned. Exercise caution.

Tully Rinckey attorneys understand that issues involving security clearances and drug use can be challenging, and they will handle your matter with the attention and tact it deserves. If you have additional questions, our team of dedicated security clearance attorneys is available to assist you today. Please call 8885294543, or schedule a consultation online.

As a Managing Partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC, Anthony Kuhn focuses much of his time on the representation of military personnel and members of the intelligence community. He has extensive experience assisting clients in navigating matters involving security clearance suspensions and revocations, appeals to the Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military Records, UCMJ violations and non-judicial punishment, appeals for service-connection before the Department of Veterans Affairs, rebuttals to GOMORs and QMP selection notifications and requests for Special Selection Boards. He also serves as the Chair of the National Security Lawyers Association.