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Marijuana is now legal for recreational use in 24 states and for medicinal use in 38 states. But the federal government has been slow to catch up and still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, putting it in the same category as heroin.

Now, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is accepting public comments on a Biden administration proposal, formally announced in May, to change the classification to Schedule III. This change could ease tax burdens for businesses that supply marijuana products in states where it is legal and also make it easier for researchers to study medical uses.

The action was by President Joe Biden as 鈥渕onumental鈥� and an 鈥渋mportant move toward reversing long-standing inequities.鈥� The U.S. Cannabis Council, a trade organization, said it signals 鈥渁 tectonic shift away from the failed policies of the last 50 years.鈥�

The reality, however, is that this proposal is wholly insufficient. It still allows marijuana to remain criminalized. This means the federal government can still arrest, prosecute and incarcerate people for marijuana offenses. It鈥檚 why the Southern Poverty Law Center submitted a comment to the Drug Enforcement Administration today about how the proposed rule doesn鈥檛 go far enough.

Criminalization has wreaked havoc on Black and Brown communities for decades. It has torn families apart, caged people in cells, hurt the long-term employment and housing prospects for countless people, and wasted an enormous amount of taxpayer resources.

And this was no accident.

After passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, marijuana was initially classified as a Schedule I drug in a move that was meant to be temporary pending a study and review by the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, better known as the Shafer Commission. After a thorough review, the commission concluded that marijuana was no more dangerous than alcohol and recommended that it be . But in June 1971, President Richard Nixon declared his so-called 鈥淲ar on Drugs,鈥� and the commission鈥檚 recommendation to decriminalize ran counter to this planned 鈥渨ar.鈥� Nixon rejected the recommendation, and marijuana remains a Schedule I drug today.

Years later, in an with a journalist, Nixon鈥檚 domestic policy affairs adviser and White House counsel, John Ehrlichman, the real motivation behind the so-called war:

鈥淭he Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I鈥檓 saying? We knew we couldn鈥檛 make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.鈥�

Today, this war targeting Black and Brown communities continues to devastate those families and communities, particularly in the Deep South.

Take Alabama, for example: Black people are arrested for marijuana possession at the rate of white people, despite similar usage rates. And of the 20 most common arrest offenses in Alabama, marijuana is the one with the largest racial disparity. Alabama spends an estimated $22 million a year criminalizing marijuana, money that could instead fund 191 pre-K classrooms or 571 schoolteachers.

Missouri legalized marijuana in 2020, and it is projected that sales will have generated $238 million in tax revenue by the end of 2024. The state uses that money to fund drug treatment, veteran services and other important social programs. Colorado generated $1.6 billion in tax revenue within a six-year period to pay for schools, literacy programs and mental health services.

It is past time to end this 鈥淲ar on Drugs.鈥� One necessary step in the right direction is for the federal government to align with the of Americans who support legalization and completely deschedule and decriminalize marijuana. The majority of the states have already done so and it鈥檚 time for the Biden administration to follow suit. Racial, social and economic justice demand nothing less.

Aiden Cotter is the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 senior policy counsel for decarceration and decriminalization.