Kamala Harris Reaffirms Support for Marijuana Legalization

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Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated her support for marijuana legalization during a recent interview on the "All the Smoke" podcast. As a federal legislator, Harris has advocated for decriminalizing weed, a stance that has evolved since her time as district attorney of San Francisco and California attorney general.

"I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed. And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail," Harris stated during the interview. She emphasized the need to "legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior," clarifying that her stance on marijuana legalization isn't new.

This interview marked the first time Harris publicly affirmed her position on marijuana since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. As San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011, Harris oversaw over 1,900 cannabis-related convictions, but only a few resulted in prison sentences. When running for California attorney general, she opposed a 2010 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, though she supported medical marijuana use.

By 2016, as attorney general, Harris did not take a stance on the ballot measure that successfully legalized recreational marijuana for adults, citing her role in preparing ballot summaries. However, Harris's support for legalization grew, and as a U.S. senator, she co-sponsored the Marijuana Justice Act with Sen. Cory Booker in 2018 to federally legalize marijuana.

President Joe Biden's administration is working to change marijuana's classification from Schedule I to Schedule III, a move supported by Harris. Biden has also pardoned thousands convicted of simple marijuana possession. Harris has criticized racial disparities in marijuana arrests, highlighting an ACLU analysis showing that Black people were 3.6 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession from 2010 to 2018.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, recently expressed support for reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug.

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