It's the Brian Marrishow on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. So you know that cannabis or marijuana is now

legal for adult recreational use, not just medical, in about half the states now, right?

Basically, the whole northeast from Virginia, if you can count that as the northeast quadrant, up through Maine, except for New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

The whole northeast except for those two states, and also the whole West Coast and some other Western states,

but still in half the states, mostly in the South and Midwest, it's still not.

But could this be the year that marijuana becomes legal nationwide?

Maybe, and the election year might have something to do with it.

The Biden administration is reportedly taking steps to reclassify cannabis

in a way that will help the businesses in legal states

and will also facilitate medical research.

And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer just announced two bills

to end different aspects of federal prohibition.

Over the decades, millions of Americans, most often Americans of color, have had their

lives derailed and destroyed by our country's failed war on drugs.

The consequences of this harmful campaign linger on to this very day.

I was pleased by yesterday's news that the DEA, under the Biden administration, is preparing to take a truly historic step,

rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule 1 substance to a Schedule 3 under the Controlled Substances Act.

Reclassifying cannabis is necessary, and it's a long overdue step.

We will give you details of what Congress is going to do as we go.

That was Schumer on Wednesday.

But federal cannabis policy is not all going in one direction.

Politico has a story now called

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