Vice President Kamala Harris has called on the federal government to reschedule marijuana “as quickly as possible”, emphasizing that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”
(Photo credit: Getty Images).
“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible,” Vice President Harris said on Friday. “We need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment. This issue is stark when one considers the fact that on the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin ― as dangerous as heroin ― and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair.”
Harris’ comments come as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is conducting a review on marijuana’s scheduling status. The review was prompted by the Department of Health and Human Services, which recommended to the DEA in August that marijuana be moved to Schedule III.
A move to Schedule III would legalize marijuana for prescription use nationwide, while providing medical marijuana patients with a bevy of federal protections and rights.
Last month in a campaign video on the social media platform X, Harris said “We changed federal marijuana policy, because nobody should have to go to jail just for smoking weed”. The video, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, has caused confusion among marijuana reformists, given the Biden / Harris Administration has not, in fact, changed federal marijuana policy. At least not yet.
