“No one should go to jail for 'smoking weed,'” says Scott, who as the Sun's district attorney prosecuted nearly 2,000 marijuana offenders and almost led to a complete U-turn on the topic of marijuana legalization. says Vice President Kamala Harris, who completed it. Francisco, California.
Now that President Biden has withdrawn from the presidential race, Harris has become the presumptive Democratic nominee, an unprecedented situation in modern presidential history. But what does that mean for cannabis?
Harris, who has built a career cracking down on gangs and drug traffickers, recently criticized past policies that labeled marijuana a “gateway drug” and a “failed policy.”
Also read: Joe Biden resigns: What will happen to marijuana legalization under Kamala Harris or Donald Trump?
From fierce opponent to vocal supporter
Harris opposed Proposition 19, California's ballot measure to legalize marijuana in 2010, and nearly seven years later said marijuana should be decriminalized. According to CNN, she called for “an end to federal prohibition of medical marijuana” at the 2015 Democratic state convention.
In 2016, she made history by becoming the second African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.
In a 2017 speech, she said, “I don't believe in legalizing all drugs, but as a career prosecutor I don't think so. We will do the smart and right thing and ultimately decriminalize marijuana.” We need to do that.”
Finally, full support for full legalization
In 2018, Harris publicly supported adult-use cannabis legalization, co-sponsoring Sen. Cory Booker's Marijuana Justice Act to legalize cannabis at the federal level.
“Right now, people are being arrested, prosecuted and spending time in jail and prison for using drugs that should be legal in this country,” Harris said. “Legalizing marijuana at the federal level is the smart and right thing to do. I know that as a former prosecutor and as a senator.”
In her book, The Truth We Hold, released in January 2019, she said she supports legalizing marijuana. That same year, Harris worked with then-House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a measure to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.
At the 2020 vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Harris reiterated that the Biden-Harris administration would decriminalize marijuana and expunge the records of people with marijuana-related criminal convictions. To that end, Biden announced his intention in October 2022 to pardon all federal crimes related to simple marijuana possession.
Harris is now focused on lobbying the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to speed up the process of rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. The rescheduling push stems from a reclassification recommendation by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Harris even has a cannabis strain named after her!
Harris' support for cannabis also gave her access to cannabis stocks. In a recent interview with late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel, she learned about “Kamala Kush.”
“You know, I think this is interesting because remember there was a time when people said, 'Well, marijuana is a gateway drug.' These were failed policies.” she told Kimmel during an interview. We need to be better led, and continue to be better led, to address what we need to do around opioid addiction and fentanyl, and put more resources into mental health and mental health care. Sho. ”
Read next:
It looks like cannabis rescheduling is just around the corner. Want to know what this means for the future of the industry? Join top executives, investors, and policymakers at the 19th annual Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, taking place October 8-9 this year in Chicago. Please hear the story directly. Click this link to get your tickets now before prices go up.
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