GEOFF BENNETT: The federal government is reclassifying medical marijuana, categorizing it as a drug with potential medical benefits and less potential for harm.

While this doesn't legalize marijuana nationally, it does open the door to further research into its effects.

Our William Brangham has been covering this and joins us now.

So, William, this is a move that President Trump tried to enact via executive order last year and is now being pushed by the Justice Department.

What are the practical implications of this reclassification?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The biggest implication is what you mentioned, Geoff, which is research into marijuana.

By moving marijuana -- and they're -- moved state-level medical marijuana from this category, Schedule I, where hard drugs were classified, down to Schedule III, which is drugs that have medical benefits like Tylenol with codeine.

That will allow greater research to be done.

In fact, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote as much today.

He wrote: "These actions will enable more targeted rigorous research into marijuana's safety and efficacy, expanding patients' access to treatments, and empowering doctors to make better-informed health care decisions."

I mean, researchers had always been able to research marijuana, but there was an enormous thicket of bureaucracy to get through.

This will make it a lot easier.

This will also create quite a financial windfall for the companies that produce the recreational marijuana products that are sold all over the country.

This change in status allows them to deduct a lot of their expenses off their taxes, and so that's why some critics have called this move a giveaway to big pot.

GEOFF BENNETT: And is that who wanted this shift to happen, to have the federal government more overtly say that marijuana isn't such a dangerous drug?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, yes, in part those companies wanted that, because, as you mentioned, this is still illegal on the federal basis, but there's 40-something states where medical marijuana and recreational marijuana is flowing out of stores all over the place.

But, also, drug policy reformers have wanted this.

As you said, they have argued for a long time that marijuana has been unfairly demonized, that it is not the same as heroin or cocaine, and we shouldn't call it that.

They argue that there was a whole generation of people who were arrested and incarcerated for simple possession, often minority communities.

And they say that this is high time that we move away from that.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, if this doesn't legalize marijuana, is it likely to change the national landscape, where different states have different systems of licensing and selling it?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Not really.

I mean, there will be an FDA hearing later this year to try to reclassify all marijuana, recreational and medical, but those states will still continue to operate as they are doing right now.

The hope is, is that better research will help us understand this massive rolling experiment that we are doing, which is basically all these different states are slow-rolling a legalization of marijuana across the country.

Marijuana use is up.

There were polls in recent years showing that more people are smoking marijuana than cigarettes.

And with this classification, while it says that marijuana is not as harmful, that is not to say that marijuana does not have serious problems.

People can have real substance use disorders with it.

There's increasing evidence that heavy chronic use, especially among young people, can be very detrimental to their brains and their emotional and mental development.

And so the idea is, let's study this a little bit more.

Let's make better policy decisions for this big experiment we're doing.

GEOFF BENNETT: William Brangham.

William, our thanks to you, as always.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Thanks, Geoff.