North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, joined 17 of his cohorts today in sending a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substance Act.

Currently, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under the act, putting it in the same category under federal law as heroin, ecstasy and LSD and a class above the likes of cocaine, methadone, oxycodone and morphine. The Schedule I designation makes it very difficult to conduct legal testing on marijuana in the United States, as it can only be done with federal permits, which, as one might imagine, the government doesn’t give out very often.

In the letter, the members of Congress urge Obama to ask Attorney General Eric Holder to reclassify under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

“We were encouraged by your recent comments in your interview with David Remnick in the Jan. 27, 2014 issue of the New Yorker, about shifting public opinion on the legalization of marijuana,” Huffman and company wrote. “Classifying marijuana as Schedule I at the federal level perpetuates an unjust and irrational system. We request that you instruct Attorney General Holder to delist or classify marijuana in a more appropriate way, at the very least eliminating it from Schedule I or II.”

Read the full letter below, and the Journal’s coverage of Obama’s New Yorker comments here.