Cannabis has been used by us for thousands of years. Paper, clothes, bricks, and medicine are all some of the possible uses of this plant.

In the 1930s, racism in the United States fueled several campaigns to criminalize the plant and ridicule those who found a benefit to its existence.

These were made even more severe by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Many lies have been taught to Americans about the use of the plant in order to keep them from trying to use it.

But, of course, many chose and still choose to use it anyway. Even if they didn't use it, many people (as many as 70%) of Americans support an end to the prohibition. And state governments started to catch on. What started as a simple act of decriminalizing the plant (Oregon, 1973) came to as many as 46 states and Washington, D.C. allowing CBD products derived from hemp (cannabis plants low in THC), 37 states and Washington, D.C. allowing medical cannabis use, and 19 states and Washington, D.C. allowing any cannabis use.

However, the allowances have several limitations. Firstly, states where cannabis is legal still have penalties for what are not very large amounts of cannabis flower. Second, some of the states that allow cannabis either for medical or recreational use do not allow users to grow their own plants, where this would benefit people who would like either a more organic option or just prefer it. Third, the federal government still has laws criminalizing any use of cannabis products not derived from hemp (as defined earlier), which also prevent cannabis businesses from ever being interstate, and which generally prevent exports and imports of cannabis between states.

The federal government can, and should, change its stance on cannabis. There are several actions that I know can be taken to do this. They include, but are not limited to scenarios where:

1) Congress creates and passes a law that decriminalizes cannabis across the country, removing its grasp on this policy and leaving it up to the states.

2) Congress creates and passes a law that completely legalizes cannabis across the country, where the fact that federal law is the supreme law of the land would mean that states can no longer criminalize it.

3) The Supreme Court rules, with new evidence, that cannabis has no place in the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I substance, and that it must not be federally criminalized.

4) The President of the United States issues an executive order which removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.

My focus with this post is on the latter of these. With a somewhat swift move, President Joe Biden can remove many restrictions on the plant, and improve the abilities of cannabis entrepreneurs, businesses, and consumers alike. Let's show that, according to a vast majority of us Americans, this is the right thing to do.