Vice President Kamala Harris touted President Biden’s marijuana pardon plan after his announcement last Thursday. This was her first time discussing any cannabis related topic for months since taking office.
As a matter of fact, President Joe Biden has also remained relatively quiet on cannabis reformation, but is now speaking openly about his support to end cannabis incarceration.
After speaking on the president’s appointment of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Harris said, “speaking of the system of justice, we are also changing—y’all might have heard that this week—the federal government’s approach to marijuana.”
“Because the bottom line there is: Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed,” she said.
Harris also Tweeted on the day of the pardon announcement that this is a “step forward in correcting the historic injustices of failed drug policies.”
The Vice President’s Previous Talk About Cannabis
Harris did not comment on any cannabis related topics since the height of COVID-19 in April 2021, stating that her stance on weed was not of her concern at the time, and instead was focused on “all-consuming” issues like vaccine distribution.
Her long silence on cannabis policies had grown concern over marijuana advocates. During her campaign for office, Harris made a point to create systemic policy changes to cannabis laws when put into the White House. From her history as being a senator who sponsored cannabis reformation bills, supporters had hoped that her election would expedite federal legalization.
Before taking office in 2020, Harris said that “we will decriminalize the use of marijuana and automatically expunge all marijuana use convictions and incarceration for drug use alone.”
After accepting the vice presidential nomination, she said that “we will decriminalize the use of marijuana and automatically expunge all marijuana use convictions and incarceration for drug use alone.”
Now being under President Biden, her stance on cannabis has been dialed back. The president does not support the legalization of adult use, but does believe in decriminalization, and allowing states to self regulate their own cannabis programs.
Despite her recent liberal stance on marijuana reformation, her time as a prosecutor was spent coauthoring voter guides to oppose cannabis legalization measures.
Kamala Harris’s Personal Experience with Pot
Any political stance against cannabis would put the Vice President in a hypocritical position. In 2019, Harris admitted to using cannabis in her college years. In an interview, she had also said that cannabis “gives a lot of people joy, and we need more joy in the world.”
What is President Biden’s Pardon Plan?
Biden’s presidential pardon proclamation issued last week was backed by the notion that Biden and Harris both support the decriminalization of cannabis and that people shouldn’t be incarcerated for marijuana possessions. That being said, these pardons will only be available to those prosecuted on a federal level for simple cannabis possessions, a low level offense.
Biden Calls Upon Governors to Follow Suit in Relieving Marijuana Convictions
In a separate act, Biden called upon governors to reconsider their stance on marijuana, and provide relief to offenders at the state level, where the majority of convictions are prosecuted.
Several members of the cabinet celebrated the proclamation, ensuring pardons be carried out quickly.
Last Friday, a poll was released showing a majority of Americans in support of the pardon, and would like to see their governors quickly follow in releasing their state cannabis offenders.
