Kamala Harris: ‘No one should go to jail for smoking weed’

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday called on both Congress and state governments to follow the Biden administration’s lead in decriminalizing marijuana.

Harris’ comments, made during an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” came less than a week after President Joe Biden pardoned people previously convicted under federal law of a cannabis-related offense.

“Let me just start by saying this. I firmly believe, and the majority of Americans agree, that nobody goes to jail for smoking weed, right?” Harris said, as quoted by Yahoo. “We call on governors and states to follow our lead in pardoning people criminalized for marijuana possession. And ultimately, as with so many issues, when Congress acts, there is a unified approach to this and so many other issues. But Congress must act.”

On Thursday, Biden announced he would issue pardons to all those with federal convictions for simple marijuana possession, a move that will affect thousands of Americans.

In the announcement, Biden made the same points his vice president made in her late-night interview and urged “all governors to do the same regarding state misconduct.”

“As I’ve said many times during my presidential campaign, no one should be in prison just for using or possessing marijuana,” Biden said. “Sending people to jail for possession of marijuana has turned too many lives upside down and jailed people for behavior that many states no longer prohibit. Criminal records for marijuana possession have also created unnecessary barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while whites and blacks and browns use marijuana at similar rates, blacks and browns have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”

Aside from the mass pardons, Biden’s announcement also marked the beginning of what may be a historic turning point in U.S. drug policy under federal law.”

“Federal law currently classifies marijuana under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the classification designed for the most dangerous substances. This is the same timeline as heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine — the drugs driving our overdose epidemic,” Biden said.

Nineteen states have legalized adult recreational cannabis. Voters in five other states will vote on their own legalization proposals in next month’s elections.

But despite being under Democratic control, Congress has failed to approve its own cannabis reform measure.

In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation known as the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.

Senate Democrats said they intend to develop their own legalization measure, but efforts stalled over the summer months.

Harris, as a presidential candidate in the 2020 election, expressed her support for marijuana legalization, although her record as a California prosecutor leaves drug reform advocates cold.

During her tenure as San Francisco District Attorney from 2004 to 2010, Harris “oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions,” according to the Mercury News, which noted that her “prosecutors appear to have convicted people on marijuana charges more frequently than under her predecessor, based.” for data on marijuana arrests in the city.”

“During Harris’ seven years as chief prosecutor, her attorneys won 1,956 misdemeanor and felony convictions for possessing, growing or selling marijuana, according to prosecutor’s data,” reported Mercury News. “That includes people concurrently convicted of marijuana felonies and more serious felonies.”