Vice President Harris reiterated her support for legalizing marijuana on Monday, marking her first public statement on the issue since becoming the Democratic nominee.
“I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris said during a nearly hourlong interview on the sports and culture podcast “All the Smoke” released Monday.
“I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed,” she told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. “And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail.”
Vice President Harris emphasized that her support for marijuana legalization is “not a new position for me. I have long believed we need to legalize it.”
Harris’s stance on marijuana has shifted over time.
She has faced criticism for her strict prosecution of marijuana-related offenses during her tenure as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general.
She also opposed Proposition 19, a 2010 California ballot measure aimed at legalizing and regulating marijuana, which ultimately failed.
As a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation to end the federal prohibition of marijuana.
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During her 2019 presidential campaign, she advocated for expunging nonviolent marijuana-related criminal records, a policy now enacted by the Biden administration.
On April 20 of this year, Harris posted on the social platform X, asserting that no one “should have to go to jail for smoking weed” and urged continued reform of the nation’s marijuana laws.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration initiated the formal process to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance.
However, President Biden has stopped short of endorsing full legalization.
When former President Trump recently expressed support for legalizing recreational smoking in Florida, Harris’s campaign dismissed it as “blatant pandering.”
Despite her past advocacy, Harris has not prominently mentioned the drug since launching her current campaign.
There is no reference to it on her campaign website, and she avoided addressing specific questions on the issue as recently as last week.
Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has also sidestepped the legalization question, recently telling Spectrum News that he believes it should be a state-level decision.
(The Hill)
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