Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will propose legislation Wednesday to decriminalize marijuana with the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. The bill would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, as well as regulate and tax cannabis.

The bill would essentially make amends for the failed war on drugs by removing federal penalties on cannabis, as well as expunging nonviolent federal marijuana-related arrests and convictions. It would also allow states to decide marijuana enforcement.

Tax revenue would be directed at programs intended to bolster areas affected by “the failed federal prohibition of cannabis.”

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., wrote the bill with Schumer.

“The war on drugs has been a war on people--particularly people of color. The Cannabis Administration Opportunity Act aims to end the decades of harm inflicted on communities of color by removing cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances and empowering states to implement their own cannabis laws,” the senators said in a bill summary.

“Descheduling cannabis is a crucial step for those targeted and hit hardest by the war on drugs, but that alone isn’t enough,” they added.

The move to decriminalize marijuana has been expected since Democrats gained more influence on Capitol Hill after the 2020 elections. In February, Schumer announced plans to unveil a bill that would please marijuana legalization advocates.

“It’s not enough in my view to end cannabis prohibition, I think we need to restore the lives of the people hurt most by the failed war on drugs, especially Black Americans,” Schumer said.

According to the Last Prisoner Project, there are 40,000 people in prison for marijuana convictions. Eighteen states have legalized marijuana for recreational use and 37 states have legalized medicinal marijuana.

“I’m strategizing now on the next steps, we need comprehensive reform and you need legislation to do it,” Wyden said. “We’re in a position to move at the federal level, you need some kind of bedrock federal rules on, one ending prohibition, two sensible tax policies, three sensible regulatory oversight."

President Biden has stated that he does not support cannabis legalization but does support decriminalizing marijuana and expunging previous records.