"President Joe Biden, in a video posted Thursday on X, touted the proposal as "an important move toward reversing longstanding inequities."

"Look folks, no one should be in jail for merely using or possessing marijuana. Period," he said. "Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana, and I'm committed to righting those wrongs."

Since the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1971, marijuana has been a Schedule I drug, meaning it was in the same category as more lethal drugs like heroin and meth.

Schedule III drugs are defined by the DEA as ones "with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence," such as "Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids [and] testosterone."