The US government moved to categorize marijuana as a less dangerous drug on Thursday, meaning people who use or possess the substance are unlikely to go to prison in future.
"Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana," US President Joe Biden wrote on social media platform X.
"So today, the Justice Dept is taking the next step to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under federal law."
Drugs fall into five different categories in the United States. Up until now, marijuana or cannabis has been in the first and therefore strictest category including the likes of heroin and LSD.
The US government has now applied for the drug to be listed in the third category in future. As a result, marijuana will be on par with steroids or paracetamol. US media have labelled the reclassification as historic.
The reclassification recognizes the medical use of cannabis but a complete nationwide legalization for private consumption is not planned.
Although marijuana is already legal for recreational and medical purposes in more than 20 US states and for medical reasons only in more than a dozen other states, federal law is still lagging behind.
The move by Biden's government has far-reaching consequences for research and taxation while it contributes to the further decriminalization of cannabis.