Biden administration hopes for pot luck election boost

Various illegal drugs are popular among the youth population in the United States, and 22 people aged 14-18 are killed every week in the country due to drug abuse. More than 100,000 people die from drug abuse in the US every year.

Yet the United States Justice Department on Thursday proposed a historic shift in US drug policy recommending reclassifying marijuana, which is generally viewed as a less harmful starter drug. A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation's most dangerous drugs, according to a report of the Associated Press.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration will next take public comments on the proposal in a potentially lengthy process. If approved, the rule would move marijuana away from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and lysergic acid diethylamide, a potent psychedelic drug. Marijuana would instead become a Schedule III substance, alongside some anabolic steroids.