Legalizing marijuana will be one of the top items on Vice President Kamala Harris' “to-do list” if she wins next month's presidential election, the Democratic candidate says.
On Thursday, Harris shared a list of 14 priorities for Lined up.
The sixth item on the list reads, “Legalize recreational marijuana.”
Harris said that while her opponent in the race, former President Donald Trump, has an “enemy list”, she has a “to-do list” that she wants to bring to the White House.
This comes just weeks after the vice president pledged federal marijuana legalization for the first time since becoming the party's nominee, pledging that access to marijuana would become “the law of the land.” .
If elected, she would work to “legalize marijuana nationally and work with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land.” “We will break down the unjust legal barriers that hold back other Americans.” The Harris camp said:
Trump has a list of enemies.
I have a to-do list. pic.twitter.com/rdifXb95Dy
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 24, 2024
Harris also revealed last month that she still supports marijuana legalization, having previously promoted it as a senator but since becoming President Joe Biden's vice presidential nominee in 2020. , had not been discussed publicly.
Separately, she recently said that part of the reason the government's current marijuana rescheduling efforts are slow is due to a federal bureaucracy that is “slowing things down,” including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). said.
Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (Democratic), has also spoken out about cannabis policy during his campaign. Last week, for example, he emphasized that marijuana legalization must be paired with policies that give people unfairly targeted by criminalization a “first shot at making money” in the legal cannabis industry.
Harris and Walz share the belief that prohibition should be replaced with a system of legalization and regulation, but the governor should not weigh in on the federal legalization prospects, but instead allow states to develop their own cannabis It focuses primarily on the right to legislate.
As another ticket to next month's election, Republican candidate Trump is backing a Florida marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot, as well as marijuana bank reform and schedule changes.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), President Trump's running mate, has expressed support for allowing states to decide their own marijuana policies, but he also says that enforcement efforts should be stepped up. and has repeatedly complained about the smell of marijuana. Additionally, he has repeatedly sounded the alarm about fentanyl-laced marijuana, only recently acknowledging that the problem is not widespread.
The Harris-Waltz campaign, meanwhile, accused Trump of lying about his support for marijuana reform and argued that Trump's “blatant pandering” contradicts his administration's record on marijuana.
After President Trump recently announced his support for a Florida marijuana legalization ballot measure, Democratic campaigns have been working to reassure voters that Trump “rolled back marijuana reform” during his time in office.
Also Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said Harris' support for marijuana legalization is part of the candidate's “freedom agenda.” He made the remarks Thursday at an event hosted by musician and marijuana icon Willie Nelson.
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