A huge change could be coming to the way the federal government regulates marijuana.
NBC News reports the Biden Administration is proposing to reclassify the drug from its current Schedule I controlled substance designation alongside LSD and heroin, down to Schedule III.
The move would place marijuana in the same legal category as over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol.
Marijuana has been federally regulated as a Schedule I drug since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1971.
Changing the drug’s classification to Schedule III would allow the government to study the potential medical benefits of marijuana.
“There are going to be a lot of changes there just because it’s being reclassified,” said Nick Stevens, Executive Director of Decriminalize Denton.
Stevens is an advocate for marijuana access in Denton.
In 2022, voters in the city passed a proposition to decriminalize the drug, but last June the Denton city council voted against enforcing that change due to concerns about violating state and federal law.
Advocates hoped the new classification would be a step towards making marijuana more accessible in their community.
“I think for the federal government to step in and state themselves that this isn’t a threat, that it’s something that is therapeutic, it’s a big victory for us and it’s a big victory for Dentonites,” said Stevens.
Not everyone was on board with easing marijuana restrictions.
“The impact and implication across the nation could be quite harmful,” said Texas State Rep. Matt Shaheen, HD 66.
Some state lawmakers told NBC5 they were against the new classification, saying they believed increasing access to the drug would bring a negative impact to Texas communities.
The CDC said studies have found that the rate of marijuana users who are addicted to the drug is from 10-30%, and from 2008 to 2017, cannabis samples showed the average amount of the active chemical THC in marijuana plants nearly doubled.
“Just look at the mental health issues that we’re having in the state of Texas and across the nation right?” Shaheen said. “I mean it’s really irresponsible to do this given the mental health crisis that we’re experiencing.”
On Tuesday, advocates were celebrating this decades-long war on drugs potentially going up in smoke.
“It’s a huge victory, it was a sigh of relief for me and our organization,” Stevens said.
But opponents told NBC 5 they still planned to fight any spread of marijuana in the Lone Star State.
“I think we’re going to hold firm in the state of Texas as far as keeping it a criminal offense,” Shaheen said.
The final decision on changing federal marijuana policy remained months away, as a proposal to ease restrictions from the Department of Health and Human Services would first have to be published and eventually reviewed by a judge.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Denton and four other Texas cities that have passed policies limiting the prosecution of marijuana cases. NBC 5 reached out to Paxton’s office for a response to the proposed rule change, we are waiting to hear back.
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