The Biden administration took a major step toward reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 3 drug. The move will not decriminalize marijuana but acknowledges its medical benefits and differentiates it from lethal drugs like heroin or meth. The move would also ease tax burdens on states that have legalized marijuana sales. Biden hailed the “monumental” step Thursday.

President Joe Biden: “No one should be in jail merely for using or possessing marijuana, period. Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana. And I’m committed to righting those wrongs.”

As a senator, Joe Biden authored the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, enacting new mandatory minimum sentences for drugs including marijuana. The law led to a fivefold increase in the jailing of Black people.