If there was any uncertainty about where she stands on U.S. marijuana prohibition, Vice President Kamala Harris cleared the air by declaring that MJ should be federally legalized.
It was Harris’ first public stance on the issue since she became the Democratic Party’s choice to run for the presidency against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Her declaration comes after her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, recently declined to endorse legalization on a nationwide basis, saying instead that the issue should be left up to the states.
Speaking on the “All the Smoke” podcast – hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson – Harris said, “I just feel strongly, people should not be going to jail for smoking weed.”
“Second,” she continued, “I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior.”
Harris’ comments during the podcast were first made public by Marijuana Moment.
As a U.S. senator from California, Harris once sponsored a federal marijuana legalization bill.
“Actually, this is not a new position for me,” she told Barnes and Jackson.
“I have felt for a long time we need to legalize it. So that’s where I am on that.”
As for Walz, who signed a bill into law in May 2023 that made Minnesota the 23rd state to legalize adult-use marijuana, he said at a Sept. 14 rally in Wisconsin that legalization is “an issue for states on some of those, and that’s the way the states have done it.”
Walz will debate his Republican counterpart, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, on Tuesday.
