WASHINGTON (AP) — A decision on reclassification marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the USA will only be after the Presidential elections in Novembera timeline that increases the chances that this could become a powerful political issue in the hotly contested race.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last week scheduled a hearing for December 2 to accept comments on the proposed historic change in federal drug policy.

The hearing date means a final decision could well come in the next administration. While it’s possible it could come before President Joe Biden’s term ends, holding the hearing before Inauguration Day “would speed things up quite a bit,” said cannabis attorney Brian Vicente.

This could shed new light on the presidential candidates’ stance on marijuana. Kamala Harris has supported decriminalization of the drug, calling it “absurd” to list it alongside heroin and LSD in the DEA’s Schedule I. The Democratic candidate’s position has changed over the years, from overseeing the enforcement of cannabis laws to opposing legalized adult recreational use in California during her 2010 run for attorney general.

Former President Donald Trumpthe Republican candidate, signaled his support for a legalization measure in Florida on Saturday after previously saying he increasingly agrees that people should not go to prison for the drug, which is now legal in several states, “whether that’s good or bad.”

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said he supported medical marijuana and that marijuana use should be left to the states. But during his first term, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions repealed an Obama-era policy This prevented federal authorities from stopping marijuana trafficking in states where the drug is legal.

Trump’s campaign team did not immediately respond to a question about its position on the drug’s reclassification.

The Justice Department proposed a reclassification in May. The change would recognize the medical use of marijuana and admit a lower potential for abuse than some of the country’s most dangerous drugs. The proposal, which would not legalize marijuana for recreational use, came after Biden called for a review. Biden called the change “monumental.”

The DEA has said it has not yet commented on whether the change might be implemented, but said in a memo that it would continue to review the matter as the federal legislative process progresses.

The new classification would be the most significant change in U.S. drug policy in 50 years and could be a powerful political issue, especially among younger voters. But it faces opposition from groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

Its president, Kevin Sabet, argues there is not enough data to place cannabis in the less dangerous Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids. The DEA’s decision to hold the hearing was “a major victory in our fight to have this decision guided by medical science, not politics,” he said in a statement, adding that the attorneys general of 18 states support his opposition.

The hearing caused some consternation among cannabis industry players, but the DEA’s decision to hold such a hearing was not a major surprise.

“While the outcome could ultimately be better, I think we’re so used to delays that it’s just a little disappointing,” said Stephen Abraham, chief financial officer at The Blinc Group, a supplier of cartridges and other hardware for marijuana vaporizers. “Any time you slow down the legal market or take resources away from it, it benefits the illegal market.”

The proposal, signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland and not by DEA Director Anne Milgram, followed a recommendation from the US Department of Health.

The federal drug policy has lagged behind that of many states in recent years. 38 states have already legalized medical marijuana and 24 Legalization of recreational use.

Lawmakers from both major parties have championed the change as marijuana becomes increasingly decriminalized and accepted. A Gallup poll last year found that 70 percent of adults support legalization, the highest the polling firm has ever recorded and more than double the roughly three in 10 who supported it in 2000.

The marijuana industry has also grown rapidly, and state-licensed marijuana businesses are interested in restructuring, in part because it would allow them to deduct federal business expenses that are not available to businesses that “deal” with Schedule I or II drugs. For some of Vicente’s clients, the change would effectively reduce the tax rate from 75% to 25%.

Some legalization advocates also hope that restructuring could persuade Congress to pass legislation aimed at opening banks’ doors to cannabis businesses. Currently, many state-regulated banks are hesitant to lend to such businesses, or sometimes even offer checks or other basic services, because of the drug’s legal status.

Reclassification could also make research into marijuana easier, since it is difficult to conduct approved clinical trials on Schedule I substances. Some patient advocates who prescribe medical marijuana worry that the discussion is already highly politicized and that the focus on the potential impact of reclassification on the industry has diverted attention from the people who could benefit from it.

“We were hoping that we could finally take the next step and create the national medical cannabis program that we need,” said Steph Sherer, founder and president of Americans for Safe Access. The organization advocates for placing cannabis in its own drug category and establishing an office for medical cannabis within the DHS.

However, the immediate impact of reclassification on the U.S. criminal justice system would likely be less significant, as federal prosecutions for simple possession have been rare in recent years.

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Peltz reported from New York.