Over the past five years, Vice President Kamala Harris, now a presidential candidate, has consistently shown support for marijuana legalization.
In a notable shift from her earlier stance, when she opposed legalizing marijuana as the District Attorney of San Francisco, Harris has evolved to become a vocal proponent of legalization. In April, she became the first U.S. vice president to publicly support legalization, stating, “We need to legalize marijuana.”
Harris has consistently supported legalization since 2019, saying in September of that year, “It’s time to end mass incarceration. This includes legalizing marijuana, sentencing reforms, and abolishing private prisons.”
In an interview with Charlamagne tha God soon after these remarks, Harris underscored her belief in the positive impact of marijuana legalization. She reiterated, “It gives a lot of people joy, and we need more joy”.
Also in 2019, Harris sponsored the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to fully deschedule marijuana.
As VP, Harris has supported the Biden Administration’s efforts to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III. Following the DEA’s announcement, she said, “Currently, marijuana is classified on the same level as heroin and more dangerous than fentanyl. We are finally changing that. I want to thank all of the advocates for making this possible.”
All told, although Harris has a rocky introduction to her political life when it comes to marijuana law reform, if elected she would be the most pro-marijuana president in US history, by far.
