As a growing number of states consider legalizing medical marijuana, and as advocates continue to push for availability of the drug, one of the biggest challenges for doctors has been a lack of research showing the drug can provide any real benefits.

That may be about to change.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration is considering reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug, MedlinePlus reported. A decision is expected sometime this summer.

Schedule I drugs are considered drugs “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Heroin, LSD, and ecstasy are some of the other drugs listed alongside marijuana on the Schedule I list.

Schedule II drugs, such as morphine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and oxycodone, have a high potential for abuse, but “there is the recognition that they have some medical value as well.” Studies have shown that marijuana might help decrease chronic pain and nausea, ease seizures, improve the appetite, or be useful in psychiatric treatment.

The move is one many have been calling for — both supporters of medicinal marijuana as well as skeptics, as it would remove restrictions on research and finally offer some concrete evidence as to whether the drug works or doesn’t in countless scenarios.

“I am asked as a practicing doctor even in a rural area about medical marijuana use, and I want to make sure I can give patients advice that’s evidence-based,” said Dr. Robert Wergin, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “We need those kinds of studies to help us give informed advice to our patients who ask about it now,” he explained in an NIH press release.

Just over a month ago, the DEA gave its blessing to a study on the effect of medical marijuana on post-traumatic stress disorder. The study, which will be recruiting and enrolling participants as early as June, will be the first randomized, controlled research in the U.S. for PTSD that will use the actual plant instead of oils or synthesized cannabis.

For more on the newly approved PTSD study, click here.