From New York Times, I'm Michael Bobaro. This is the Daily.

Today, in a historic decision.

Today, in a historic decision, the Biden administration has just recommended loosening federal restrictions on marijuana that have been on the books for decades. My colleague Zolan Cano

Youngs walks us through why Biden is doing this now and how big an impact the proposed changes could actually have.

It's Thursday, May 2nd. Zolan in the US the federal government has a legal approach to marijuana and the states

have a legal approach to marijuana and it's been the states that have led the way

on reform, on legalizing both medical and

increasingly recreational use of marijuana and we've covered all that very

closely on the show, but the federal government has basically stood still, right?

Yeah, that's right.

When you look at how the federal government treats marijuana compared to the states.

The federal government kind of has been stuck in the past year.

States have really taken the lead on sort of relaxing their stance,

their policies, towards cannabis use.

And the way the federal government stays stuck in the past

is essentially by classifying marijuana

as a Schedule I drug, the most severe category, simply.

It's on the same league as heroin and LSD.

The federal government basically when it comes to Schedule I substances is saying there's no

medical benefit from these substances. It's typically come with longer

sentencing, strict fines as well, and also limitations on how much research you can do into these

drugs.

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