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Boxing legend Mike Tyson was one of the first star athletes to celebrate President Donald Trump’s executive order on cannabis reform on Thursday.
Trump’s order reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug, which would loosen restrictions, make it easier to buy and sell and pave the way for more research into marijuana’s medical benefits.
Marijuana was previously labeled as a Schedule I drug under Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulations, the same category the agency uses for heroin, ecstasy, and LSD.
Under the new Classification in Annex IIImarijuana is now in a category alongside drugs like codeine-containing Tylenol and anabolic steroids that the agency says have “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”
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Tyson suggested the change could improve employment figures by allowing existing jobs to be counted.
“THANKS [President Trump] for cannabis rescheduling. This decision reflects listening to citizens across the country and taking practical steps toward modernizing outdated policies. It supports American workers, families and businesses and finally accounts for more than 500,000 existing jobs,” Tyson wrote on X.
Tyson added that he hopes additional steps will be taken to grant clemency to some people who have been convicted of non-violent marijuana use in the past.
“Clemency and federal legalization are important next steps. Americans across the political spectrum agree that no one should remain incarcerated for nonviolent marijuana offenses,” Tyson wrote.
Tyson, 59, previously told PK Press Club Digital in an exclusive June 30 interview that his recovery would depend on federal marijuana rescheduling.
“It depends on whether or not cannabis ever becomes legal and postponed,” Tyson said.
Tyson said he accepted 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 REVEALS THE STORY OF HIS MARIJUANA REFORM CRUSADE
Mike Tyson, left, slaps Jake Paul as they face off during their ceremonial weigh-in at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory on November 14, 2024, in Irving, Texas. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“I don’t really believe it. No, I wouldn’t have done that,” Tyson said when asked about the fight. “Because without cannabis, I get too involved in my feelings. With cannabis, 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 factory reprogramming.
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 pushing for federal cannabis reform. The letter called for the reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, leniency for “non-violent” marijuana offenses, and an end to “discriminatory banking practices” linked to financial regulations of the cannabis industry.
Tyson told PK Press Club Digital in the June 30 interview that the postponement was the “most important” goal of his letter. He added that he was “disappointed” by the way former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden handled federal marijuana reform, but he hopes Trump will take a new approach.
“It was a disappointment,” Tyson said of Obama and Biden’s handling. “We have a different president now, so we’re talking to him. So it seems a lot different talking to President Trump than it does with the other guys.”
Tyson has a long-standing friendship with Trump dating back to the 1980s, during the early years of Tyson’s boxing career and Trump’s rise as a famous New York City real estate developer.
Tyson nevertheless 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. (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 Researchers at UC San Francisco have determined that consuming edible cannabis, such as gummies, poses the same cardiovascular risk as smoking marijuana for long-term users. The risk comes from reduced blood vessel function, according to the study published in JAMA Cardiology on May 28.
