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Boxing legend Mike Tyson was one of the first star athletes to celebrate President Donald Trump’s cannabis reform executive order on Thursday.
Trump’s order reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug, which would ease restrictions, making it easier to buy and sell and pave the way for more research into marijuana’s medical benefits.
Marijuana was previously labeled a Schedule I substance under Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) rules, the same category the agency uses for heroin, ecstasy and LSD.
Under the new Schedule III classificationmarijuana is now in a category along with drugs like Tylenol that contain codeine and anabolic steroids that the agency claims have a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”
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Tyson suggested the change could help employment numbers by allowing existing jobs to be counted.
“Thank you [President Trump] for conversion of cannabis. This decision reflects listening to people across the country and taking a practical step towards modernizing outdated policies. It supports American workers, families and businesses and allows over 500,000 existing jobs to finally be counted,” Tyson wrote on X.
Tyson added that he hopes additional measures will be taken to grant clemency to certain people who have previously been convicted of non-violent marijuana use.
“Clemency and federal legalization are the next important steps. Americans across the political spectrum agree that no one should remain incarcerated for non-violent marijuana offenses,” Tyson wrote.
Tyson, 59, previously told Pakinomist Digital in an exclusive interview on June 30 that whether he fights again would depend on federal marijuana redistricting.
“It depends on whether or not cannabis is ever legalized and rezoned,” Tyson said.
Tyson said he agreed to his last fight against YouTuber Jake Paul while under the influence of marijuana and would not have accepted the fight if he was sober.
MIKE TYSON DISCLOSES THE BACK STORY BEHIND HIS MARIJUANA REFORM CRUSADE
Mike Tyson, left, punches Jake Paul as they face each other during their ceremonial weigh-in at The Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory on November 14, 2024 in Irving, Texas. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“I don’t really believe that. No, I wouldn’t have,” Tyson said when asked about the fight. “Because without weed I get too involved in my emotions. With weed I’m very objective.”
He added that it “wouldn’t take much” [cannabis] for him to agree to another fight before suggesting that it depends on the restructuring of the facility.
Tyson led a coalition of current and former athletes, including Kevin Durant, Dez Bryant and Antonio Brown, who signed a letter to the White House in late June lobbying for federal cannabis reform. The letter called for rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, clemency for “non-violent” marijuana offenses, and ending “discriminatory banking practices” related to financial regulation of the cannabis industry.
Tyson told Pakinomist Digital in the June 30 interview that restructuring was the “most important” goal of his letter. He added that he was “let down” by how former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden handled federal marijuana reform, but hopes Trump will take a new approach.
“It was a letdown,” Tyson said of Obama and Biden’s handling. “We have a different president now, so we’re talking to him. So talking to President Trump seems a lot different than it did with the other guys.”
Tyson has a long-standing friendship with Trump dating back to the 1980s during the earlier years of Tyson’s boxing career and Trump’s rise as a famous New York City real estate developer.
Still, Tyson said he would never invite Trump to use marijuana with him.
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Donald Trump and Mike Tyson attend a March of Dimes dinner in November 1989 in New York City. (Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images)
“No way. No, he doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t believe in anything that can improve the motor skills of your brain. And I respect that,” Tyson said.
A recent study by researchers at UC San Francisco determined that eating edible cannabis, such as gummies, has the same cardiovascular risk as smoking marijuana for long-term users. According to the study, the risk stems from reduced blood vessel function, published in JAMA Cardiology on May 28.
