Where Kamala Harris Stands On Marijuana As She Prepares To Accept The Democratic Presidential Nomination
Voters this November will likely see the first major party presidential candidate who supports marijuana legalization at the top of the ticket, with Vice President Kamala Harris now expected to receive the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden made the historic announcement that he is exiting the race.
Unlike Biden, Harris backs a complete end to federal cannabis prohibition. She’s called for legalization as recently as March 2024, in a closed-door meeting with marijuana pardon recipients. And during her time in the Senate, Harris sponsored a comprehensive legalization bill in addition to other incremental cannabis reform measures.
But this wasn’t always her position. The current vice president has undergone a significant evolution on the issue, as she oversaw cannabis cases as a prosecutor and campaigned against a marijuana legalization ballot initiative in California while running for state attorney general. She was openly dismissive of the reform, at one point laughing off a reporter’s question about the potential policy change.
That’s no longer the case, however. Harris has framed legalization as a key criminal justice issue, calling prohibition a failed policy that has disproportionately impacted minority communities.
As vice president, Harris has repeatedly touted the administration’s moves to issue mass pardons to people who’ve committed federal cannabis possession offenses and direct a scheduling review that’s led the Justice Department to recommend reclassifying cannabis. She also privately called for broader reform.
Put simply, if she ultimately secures her party’s presidential nomination, Harris will be the most marijuana friendly major party presidential nominee in U.S. history.
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The vice president made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in June 2024, where she dismissed the “gateway drug” theory and promoted the administration’s cannabis clemency efforts but also seemed to overstate how the administration’s move to reschedule cannabis would impact criminal justice and the resulting availability of resources for other priorities.
“I think we both agree that people shouldn’t have to go to jail for smoking weed,” the vice president said. “And we’ve pardoned a number of people.”
“You know, I think it’s interesting also because, remember, there was a time when people would say, ‘well, marijuana is a gateway drug,’ and these were failed policies,” she said. “The resources should be better directed—and will be better directed—to deal with opioid addiction and what we need to do around fentanyl, getting more resources into mental health and mental health care.”
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