Comparing the 40-year time period since the federal ban on it was passed to the prohibition era, the New York Times editorial board officially endorsed the repeal of the federal ban on marijuana in an editorial Saturday.

Noting that the criminalization of marijuana had caused “great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol,” the Times also launched a six-part series on the issue.

The Times endorsement of the repeal of the federal ban on marijuana was noteworthy enough to get coverage from Politico, among others:

The Times is the biggest U.S. newspaper to endorse the legalization of marijuana. In recent years magazines like National Review and a few state newspapers like the Las Vegas Review Journal and the Star-Ledger Editorial Board have endorsed legalization.