In a campaign video posted on the social media platform X on February 9, Vice President Kamala Harris stated that the Biden/Harris Administration has “changed federal marijuana policy”.
A screenshot from the X.com video post by VP Harris in February.
In the video, which now has been viewed nearly 450,000 times and shared over 2,000 times, VP Harris said “We changed federal marijuana policy, because nobody should have to go to jail just for smoking weed.”
At the time, it was thought that Harris’ video was simply posted prematurely: The Biden Administration had not made any changes to federal marijuana policy, but the DEA was considering a move to reschedule the plant to Schedule III. The Harris campaign declined to respond to media inquiries about what the VP meant by her remarks.
Over six months later, and there still has been no change in federal marijuana policy under the Biden Administration. In May, the DEA did file a proposal to reschedule marijuana, but the change will not take place prior to the election, as a public hearing has been scheduled for December 2.
The video released by VP Harris also featured a map supposedly depicting where marijuana has been legalized for medical and/or recreational use, but the map contained numerous inaccuracies. For instance, it incorrectly showed that the entire West Coast is legal for medical use only, when in reality, all three West Coast states have legalized recreational marijuana. It also falsely indicated that states like Florida, Utah, and Oklahoma have legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational use, when it is only legal medically in those states. Despite being called out by numerous media outlets, the Harris campaign never addressed these errors.
While Harris’ video proclaimed a change in federal marijuana policy, the Biden Administration has yet to make such a change. However, in 2022, President Biden became the first president to sign a standalone marijuana bill, the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act. The Biden-Harris Administration also issued thousands of marijuana pardons, which recent polling suggests are the most popular mass pardons in U.S. history. Additionally, earlier this year, Harris became the first Vice President to publicly support marijuana legalization.
While federal marijuana policy hasn’t changed since Biden and Harris took office, as the video proclaims, their administration has made some notable progress. For example, President Biden became the first president to sign a standalone marijuana bill in 2022, when he signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act. The Biden/Harris Administration also issued thousands of marijuana pardons (the most popular mass pardons in U.S. history, according to recent polling), and earlier this year Harris became the first Vice President to ever declare support for legalizing marijuana.
