After many years high atop the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of the most dangerous drugs, marijuana may soon be coming down off that list.

The DEA said it will most likely decide in the first half of 2016 whether to reclassify cannabis in a category other than Schedule 1, a group that includes heroin and is said to have no medical purpose but “potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.”

The DEA is hinting at the decision after a group of Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillbrand, asked it and other federal bodies to create a research strategy because of the growing patient pool of medical marijuana users.

Although the signed DEA’s letter does not specify the downgrade, there is much more urgency now than ever amidst political pressures and scientific evidence outweighing the issue.

Change is imminent, as the recent letter from the DEA, suggested the agency will take into consideration the latest findings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stemming from the agency’s eight-factor analysis of the medical and scientific evidence supporting cannabis as a safe and effective drug. But specifically the DEA made no mention as to whether the FDA review was in favor or against rescheduling.

In contrast the head of the DEA, however, has voiced strong opposition to the strain of thought that marijuana has medical benefits saying “What really bothers me is the notion that marijuana is also medicinal — because it’s not,” DEA head Chuck Rosenberg said back in November.

Twenty-three states have legalized some form of medical marijuana, with Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia allowing recreational use in total. This decision could prove to be the most significant decision EVER for the war on drugs, and the battle for Marijuana legalization.

Written by MetroXMD Team