The Turkish Parliament passed legislation on July 20 that will allow licensed pharmacies to sell low-THC products derived from hemp to medical patients with certain conditions.

Although Turkish media outlets referred to the reform as medical cannabis legalization, the new law focuses on expanding the country’s industrial hemp program from cultivation to a full supply chain that includes cannabinoid processing, distribution and sales of nonintoxicating products.

Regardless of whether it’s called cannabis or hemp, access to cannabinoid medicines will be expanding in Turkey, where lawmakers in 2016 approved legislation allowing only for sublingual sprays, like Sativex (nabiximols), a pharmaceutical that can alleviate neurological conditions.

Editor’s note: The 0.3% delta-9 THC threshold to differentiate hemp from cannabis in the U.S. dates back to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946; however, the threshold became more widely accepted globally after 1976, when Canadian taxonomist Ernest Small and American botanist Arthur Cronquist published an article in the journal Taxon entitled “A Practical and Natural Taxonomy for Cannabis,” even though they wrote that they “arbitrarily” adopted that concentration level.

RELATED: European Parliament Votes to Bring Hemp THC Level Back to 0.3%

Currently, Turkey permits licensed industrial hemp cultivation in 19 of its 81 provinces, but more regions are expected to adopt cultivation programs under the new law, the Hürriyet Daily News reported. Specifically, Turkey’s industrial hemp production grew from 280 tons in 2020 to more than 1,700 tons in 2024 following a call by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for farmers to ramp up the agricultural commodity.

“I am calling out to my nation; let’s start the process to cultivate industrial hemp,” Erdoğan said in early 2019. “We will see that industrial hemp has many different benefits in many different areas.”

Industrial hemp is primarily grown for fiber and grain, as hemp grown for cannabinoids, like THC and CBD, represents a separate market segment.

While Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will continue to oversee hemp cultivation and harvesting under the country’s recently passed legislation, the Ministry of Health will have the authority to license and regulate hemp processing and pharmacy product sales to medical patients. Also, the Ministry of Health will govern a new electronic track-and-trace system to help ensure compliance and safety.

The Ministry of Health will also determine potential regulations around importing and exporting hemp, Turkish news site Haberler.com reported.

The new law amends Turkey’s “Health-Related Laws and Decree Law No. 663,” allowing for medical patients diagnosed with conditions ranging from chronic pain and epilepsy to cancer, multiple sclerosis, and certain psychological disorders, like post-traumatic stress disorder, to access the low-THC products.

While Turkey is primarily in West Asia, it joins many of its European neighbors, prominently Germany, in adopting more permissive cannabis laws.

RELATED: German Cannabis Market Establishes Foundation for Global Industry Expansion

Turkish Parliament Member Leyla Şahin said the new law aims to enhance Turkey’s competitiveness in a growing global sector, sparking potential economic growth through attracting international pharmaceutical companies, investors and research initiatives, the Hürriyet reported.

Those who violate provisions under Turkey’s new law will be fined twice the sales prices of all products subject to the violation, with increased penalties for subsequent offenses.

Historically, Turkey has had strict drug penalties, including up to five years in prison for possessing cannabis, while those who traffic illicit drugs can face 10-to-20-year sentences, according to the country’s penal code.  

After months of silence and bureaucratic stalling, the DEA finally has a new boss: Terrance Cole, confirmed by the Senate earlier this week.

That might not sound like major weed news since it’s the DEA and all, but it is. The federal effort to reschedule cannabis — perhaps the biggest shift in US drug policy in over half a century — now flows directly through him.

Let’s break it down: Cannabis is still a Schedule I substance under federal law, the same category as heroin and LSD, meaning the government officially considers it to have no medical value and a high potential for abuse. Yes, even in 2025, after nearly half of the U.S. states have legalized cannabis for adults to buy and consume.

Rescheduling to Schedule III, alongside Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, wouldn’t legalize cannabis outright. But it would mark the biggest federal policy shift since the Nixon Administration launched the War on Drugs in 1970.

Cole told lawmakers prior to his confirmation that advancing the rescheduling process, initiated by the Biden Administration but since stalled under President Trump, is one of his top priorities.

That’s the good news.

The not-so-good? He has a long track record of anti-cannabis statements and refused to give direct answers about what outcome he wants for the process. He’s playing it close to the chest.

Then came a twist: Just one day after Cole’s confirmation, the DEA’s administrative law judge overseeing the rescheduling process, John Mulrooney, announced his retirement. In a letter, he said all matters now go straight to the DEA Administrator. That’s Cole.

The cannabis industry is cautiously spinning Cole’s appointment as a win. That’s mostly because it’s been starving for any federal progress. Hearings were supposed to begin in January but quickly got bogged down by procedural fights, witness disputes, and a general lack of urgency.

So now, he has two choices:

• Finalize the rescheduling recommendation and jam it through himself — unlikely, but possible.
• Appoint a new judge and restart hearings from scratch. That would mean more delays and more dysfunction. More on that below.

If rescheduling happens, the implications are massive, especially for cannabis businesses.

The biggest shift? Eliminating IRS Code 280E, a tax rule that bars cannabis operators from deducting normal expenses like payroll, rent, and office supplies. That rule has gutted balance sheets and pushed even profitable companies into the red.

Rescheduling could also unlock access to banking, ease mergers and acquisitions, and possibly even allow U.S. cannabis firms to list on major stock exchanges — though it’s unclear if Nasdaq or NYSE would permit that under Schedule III.

For social equity operators, it could be a lifeline. States like New York and Illinois established these licensing programs to give entrepreneurs harmed by the War on Drugs a first crack at the newly legal market. But the lack of federal reform and banking access has left many undercapitalized, buried in debt, and unable to open. New investment and lower capital costs could give them some breathing room.

But here’s the rub: Many grassroots advocates worry Schedule III could cement the dominance of deep-pocketed multistate operators like Curaleaf and Green Thumb Industries that cultivate and sell cannabis in multiple states. These companies already have the compliance teams, legal firepower, and capital to navigate federal ambiguity — and now, potentially, tax relief too.

Rescheduling doesn’t legalize cannabis. It doesn’t expunge records. And it technically wouldn’t stop federal agencies from hassling state-legal operators if they wanted to. It just makes the math easier — for the businesses that are already surviving.

Trump has political reasons to move on cannabis reform. He backed rescheduling during the campaign — meaning it would be a fulfilled campaign promise — and it could distract from Epstein file fallout and DOJ scandals. More importantly, he’s hemorrhaging Gen Z support, and they overwhelmingly back cannabis reform.

It also gives Trump a way to split the difference in his big-tent party. It’s not full legalization (which could trigger backlash from the religious Ron DeSantis/Mike Johnson wing), but it is a policy win that helps small American businesses, plays well with young voters, and looks like reform and a broadly popular issue without going all the way.

It’s a politically useful half-measure. But in this administration, it might be the best we get. Now that Judge Mulrooney’s out, the ball is squarely in Cole’s court.

Will he push it through? Or slow-walk it into oblivion? The industry’s watching. Closely.

Editor’s note: Check out more of Jeremy’s work over at Cultivated — one of our favorite sources for smart, nuanced cannabis coverage.

Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash