What happened
The Justice Department yesterday reclassified marijuana as a less-dangerous Schedule III drug for medicinal and research uses, effective immediately. The order aligns federal policy more closely with the 48 states that allow some form of medical marijuana use. 

Who said what
The reclassification “will make it easier to study medicinal applications of marijuana and could shore up support from influencers who support the research,” Axios said. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reclassify cannabis in December and appeared impatient last weekend when signing a separate order to loosen restrictions on psychedelics. “Joe, they’re slow-walking me on rescheduling,” he told podcaster Joe Rogan. 

This is “one of the biggest changes to U.S. drug policy in decades,” Reuters said. But after “shares of cannabis companies jumped between 6% and 13% following the decision,” they “reversed their gains” as investors in the $47 billion industry digested the ”limited scope of the federal government’s immediate moves.”

What next?
Marijuana for recreational uses, as allowed in 24 states and Washington, D.C., remains an illegal Schedule I controlled substance, alongside heroin and LSD. But the Justice Department said it scheduled a June 29 hearing to consider a broader Schedule III reclassification for all cannabis.

What happened
Meta said yesterday it will cut about 8,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, as it shifts resources to artificial intelligence. In a company memo, Chief People Officer Janelle Gale said the social media behemoth would also close 6,000 open positions “as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently” and “offset the other investments we’re making.”

Who said what
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is “reorganizing his company around AI products in a fierce race” against OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, The New York Times said. Zuckerberg has “made no secret of his AI ambitions,” including rolling out AI-powered social media he “hopes people will incorporate into their daily lives,” and he has pushed employees to “use AI in their daily work.” 

Meta’s cuts are the “latest in a string of tech industry layoffs fueled” by AI’s efficiency promises, CNN said. Amazon said it would cut 16,000 workers in January, and financial-tech firm Block’s 40% workforce cut in February “came with a stark warning that more companies would follow suit.” Microsoft yesterday said it was offering buyouts to 7% of its workforce to invest in AI.

What next?
Meta said it will notify employees being laid off on May 20.

Mounting interest in the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs has led to a rise in “drug-assisted experiences,” said The Associated Press. Many such retreats operate overseas in countries like Jamaica and Peru, or in U.S. states like Oregon and Colorado. These multiday trips claim to offer “psychological healing” and “personal growth.” But safety concerns are cropping up.

While many psychedelics retreats have safety protocols in place, they still carry the risk of “physical, psychological and interpersonal harms,” researchers said in a paper published in JAMA Network Open. The study, which surveyed dozens of retreats, documented a wide range of concerning practices, including companies “offering multiple psychedelic drugs over the course of their retreats,” said the AP. Many have health professionals on-site, but their “responsibilities are often vague” — and in some cases, they “take psychedelics alongside participants,” impairing their “ability to respond in an emergency.” 

Nearly all of the drugs typically offered are “illegal under U.S. federal law,” including “magic mushrooms, ayahuasca, MDMA and LSD,” said the AP. But retreat companies don’t always “make that explicit.” 

And the federal ban on psychedelics may soon change. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration to “accelerate innovative research” into “psychedelic drugs that could save lives and reverse the crisis of serious mental illness” like post-traumatic stress disorder.

The “hard line between clinical intervention” and using drugs for spiritual or recreational purposes has blurred, said Hadas Alterman, a psychedelic medicine attorney, to Fox News. Psychedelics now “serve people who aren’t in crisis but aren’t merely thrill-seeking either.”