Kamala Harris is a heavy favourite for Democratic Presidential nominee, now that Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and endorsed her. This implies we should always re-open our brief collection on the 2024 Presidential candidates and marijuana. I assumed we have been executed with these things.
We will trot out some deep cuts with Kamala Harris right here on the weblog. In January 2018, I picked her out of the pile for instance of a politician who talks a giant sport on hashish whereas doing nothing useful. I additionally surveyed her document on marijuana, which was fairly depressing on the time. In that submit, I famous:
As California Lawyer Basic, Ms. Harris did little to advance her state’s curiosity as to hashish. In 2014, when she was requested for her opinion on legalizing adult-use hashish, her response was dismissive laughter. As a state Senator, she has didn’t sponsor and even co-sign any invoice to re- or deschedule marijuana (and there are some good ones). Apart from a number of speaking, Harris’ one huge transfer has been to place collectively a petition to decriminalize marijuana nationwide (however to not revise the CSA). My eight-year-old niece may try this.
Ms. Harris was a California Senator on the time I wrote these phrases. She later threw her hat within the ring as a Presidential candidate within the 2020 election. The nationwide sentiment on hashish coverage, together with the Democratic Social gathering’s, was fluid on the time. Harris appeared to evolve together with it. She started to name for legalizing marijuana on social media in 2019, and, as we identified in another blog post, her marketing campaign web site marketed:
Kamala will take motion to legalize marijuana, additional reform federal sentencing legal guidelines, finish personal prisons and the profiting off of individuals in jail, and push states to prioritize therapy and rehabilitation for drug offenses.
We commented:
As a Senator, Harris’ rhetoric has grow to be more and more pro-legalization. Most just lately, in 2018 Harris co-sponsored the Marijuana Justice Act which might legalize marijuana if handed. Her obvious pro-legalization stance, nevertheless, hasn’t at all times translated into legislative motion. Her current co-sponsorship of the Marijuana Justice Act comes solely after she handed up many alternatives to co-sponsor or signal payments which might have legalized or rescheduled marijuana. The timing of her co-sponsorship of the invoice — simply over half a yr earlier than her official announcement of her presidential candidacy — suggests her sponsorship was a political transfer. Harris is aware of she should visibly undertake the pro-legalization platform to have a shot on the presidency as nearly all of Americans support legalization. However we marvel how a lot precedence she would truly give the problem if elected into workplace.
Harris didn’t win the Social gathering’s nomination that yr. Curiously, a searing, cannabis-related takedown by Tulsi Gabbard helped submarine Harris’s candidacy. Gabbard led her indictment in that viral debate second by saying: “She [Harris] put over 1,500 individuals in jail for marijuana violations and laughed about it when she was requested if she ever smoked marijuana.” Gabbard then assailed Harris on legal justice extra broadly. Harris’s candidacy by no means recovered.
Nonetheless, Biden picked Harris for his operating mate, and most of us have been high quality with that. I put collectively one other submit in August of 2020 titled “Kamala Harris Will Help With Cannabis Reform (and That’s Good Enough for Me).” In that submit, I summarized:
… It’s not the way you begin, however the way you end. Harris has actually picked up the charge on hashish points these days, together with in her position as Senate sponsor of the MORE Act. As drafted, the MORE Act removes marijuana from the federal Managed Substances Act and supplies expungement for sure hashish offenses (and has a 3% chance of truly turning into legislation sometime).
Nonetheless, if Harris retains at it her advocacy might be an actual boon, particularly given Biden’s perplexing unwillingness to assist hashish legalization (we gave Biden a “D”), and particularly given the Democrats’ failure at large so as to add marijuana legalization to the occasion platform as soon as once more this yr. (Fairly disappointing, particularly contemplating the place the occasion was at in the run-up to the 2016 convention).
So we should always credit score Harris for coming round on hashish, particularly the place the middle of her occasion continues to be a half step behind. It’s true that the Biden-Harris ticket is just not the most effective that legalization advocates may have hoped for; however, just like the U.S. at massive, the Democratic occasion continues to drift towards inevitably ending prohibition. Harris goes to assist with that, even when it doesn’t occur as rapidly as we had as soon as hoped.
You understand the remaining. Biden and Harris have been elected into workplace, with Harris supporting hashish legalization and Biden pledging to “decriminalize using hashish and routinely expunge all prior hashish use convictions.” None of this occurred, or will occur by November.
As a substitute, Biden ordered some overhyped federal pardons, and ultimately, an administrative evaluate of marijuana’s CSA placement. The latter directive resulted in a recommendation to maneuver marijuana to schedule III. Within the huge image, I offered that “what Biden did right here could in the end be useful, however actually not as useful as attainable. Biden handed the buck, placing us on an unsure, circuitous path.”
Which is the place we stand right now. Kamala Harris, as Vice President, has principally been silent via all of it.
So what would Harris do as President, with respect to marijuana? I feel the proper reply is: “Kamala Harris would do no matter is politically expedient, however she wouldn’t in any other case prioritize hashish reform.”
In the present day I’m giving Kamala Harris a “B” grade, if solely as a result of she is a Presidential candidate who has known as for hashish legalization. And I feel she would possible make that occur– supplied she doesn’t should work for it.
For prior posts on this collection, try the next:
