RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Marijuana could soon be considered a less dangerous drug. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) wants to reclassify it from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III.

Schedule I includes drugs like heroin and LSD, while Schedule III includes things like Tylenol with codeine.

“I’m happy to see all the traction that it’s getting because it is a monumental shift,” said N.C. NORML board chair Gabrielle Jarrell.

The reclassification acknowledges the medical potential of cannabis, but it would not legalize the drug.

“It notes a large shift in public opinion that a lot of these agencies are now realizing that prohibition might have been a mistake,” Jarrell said.

Access in states like North Carolina, where marijuana is not legal, will not change, but groups like NC NORML, which advocates for legalization, hope the change could add momentum to the effort.

“An acknowledgment kind of at the federal level that we can point to, might allow folks to feel a little bit more comfortable broaching this conversation with our legislators,” Jarrell said.

The change would allow more research on cannabis and lead to better data.

“I think it will only help us gain clarity as to how helpful marijuana or THC may be in treatment of various conditions,” UNC Professor of Pharmacology Thomas Kash said.

Some say the change could go further.

“It is a big historic move in cannabis because the government is now finally saying, yes, it has medicinal value, but it falls short of the campaign promise of federal decriminalization, which is what we really would need in a place like North Carolina,” Modern Apotheca owner Eric Stahl said.

A bill to legalize medical marijuana has passed the North Carolina Senate but has stalled in the House.

Stahl said in the meantime, North Carolinians still have access to other cannabis products.

“Hemp stores like us have access to a whole host of products that are federally legal, available to North Carolinians without a medical marijuana card and without the super high level of sales tax that comes with it,” he said.

Reclassification is still months away. The proposal has to be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget and go through public comment.