Kamala Harris Pledges to Federally Legalize Cannabis if Elected President

The presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris (D) said on Monday that Harris would federally legalize cannabis if she wins the election. The announcement came via an update to the campaign agenda focusing on the vice president’s plan to “deliver for Black men and their families.”

The five-part plan includes “Legalizing recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry,” according to the campaign, and the legalization policy would “break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back.”

During her tenure in the Senate, Harris — who as a prosecutor and attorney general in California once worked to put Americans in jail for cannabis-related crimes — evolved her political stance on cannabis and co-sponsored legislation to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The Biden Administration is currently maneuvering to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA. However, while this change would reduce restrictions, cannabis possession would remain a federal crime — and the vice president said on a podcast last month “We have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior.”

Meanwhile, Harris’ opponent, former President Donald Trump (R), recently said he would vote ‘yes’ on the Florida adult-use cannabis amendment heading to voters this November, and that he supports rescheduling cannabis under federal law and giving cannabis companies the ability to access banking services. The former president, however, stopped short of supporting federal cannabis legalization and previously stated he believes it’s an issue best left for individual states to decide.