As Vice President Kamala Harris faces criticism from marijuana reform advocates about her relative silence on cannabis policy issues since becoming the 2024 Democratic nominee, a resurfaced ACLU candidate questionnaire from 2019 shows she previously backed broader reform\u2014specifically, full federal decriminalization of drug possession.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been well established that Harris has supported federal marijuana legalization. She said as much during a closed-door roundtable event with cannabis pardon recipients<\/a> in March, and she sponsored legalization legislation during her time in the Senate.<\/p>\n During her 2020 election run, however, she checked \u201cyes\u201d on the ACLU survey when asked about whether she\u2019d \u201csupport the decriminalization at the federal level of all drug possession for personal use.\u201d<\/p>\n The ACLU\u2019s introduction to the question said that \u201cdrug use is better addressed as a public health issue (through treatment and other programming).\u201d<\/p>\n In response, Harris focused largely on her support for Senate cannabis legalization legislation such as the Marijuana Justice Act. She said it\u2019s \u201clong past time that we changed our outdated and discriminatory criminalization of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout my career I have supported treating drug addiction as a public health issue, focusing on rehabilitation over incarceration for drug-related offenses,\u201d she added in the resurfaced statement, as CNN reported<\/a>. \u201cBoth of my Back-on-Track programs, made it a priority to connect individuals with substance abuse treatment as part of diversion and re-entry programming, in addition to employment.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to another question from ACLU, Harris detailed her broader criminal justice reform platform:<\/p>\n \u201cAs president, I would continue that record to seriously reform this system and change policies that led to mass incarceration To help end the era of mass incarceration, I will legalize marijuana, further reform federal sentencing laws, make the reforms included in the FIRST Step Act retroactive, end private prisons and immigrant detention facilities, seek a federal moratorium on the death penalty, and push states to prioritize treatment and rehabilitation for certain drug offenses. I will also use my clemency and pardon power as needed to make sure that we achieve real progress towards these badly needed reforms in a way that can provide immediate transform lives and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n She also pledged to use her power as president to grant clemency to people with drug convictions.<\/p>\n \u201cI have fought for end-to-end criminal justice reform my entire career and will continue to fight for badly needed reforms as president,\u201d Harris said. \u201cI will also use my clemency and pardon power on a broader basis than has been done in the past to overturn the convictions of people incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n The ACLU questionnaire<\/a> doesn\u2019t necessarily point to any inconsistencies in Harris\u2019s current platform. But as former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, earns praise for his recent vocal support for federal rescheduling<\/a>, industry banking access and a Florida legalization ballot initiative, her seeming reluctance to embrace drug policy reform issues has become a source of frustration for advocates and stakeholders.<\/p>\n While the Harris campaign on Monday accused Trump of lying about his support for marijuana reform<\/a>\u2014arguing that his \u201cblatant pandering\u201d runs counter to his administration\u2019s record on cannabis\u2014she has yet to lay out a defined platform on the issue since accepting her party\u2019s presidential nomination.<\/p>\n Case in point: A\u00a0new, long-awaited issues page launched by the Harris campaign\u00a0omits any mention of marijuana policy reform<\/a>\u00a0despite her record promoting comprehensive legalization.<\/p>\n The overall silence on the issue from Harris\u2019s end seems to have created an opening for Trump to seize the issue in recent weeks, culminating in a post he made on his social media site Truth Social on Sunday, where he embraced the Biden administration\u2019s push to reschedule marijuana and also backed freeing up banks to work with state-legal cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n The prior Biden-Harris campaign had also\u00a0made several prior attempts to contrast the administration\u2019s marijuana reform actions<\/a>\u00a0with those of the Trump administration, emphasizing the role Sessions played in rescinding the cannabis enforcement guidance.<\/p>\n But since Harris became the nominee, it\u2019s been Trump who\u2019s been most vocal about his desire to see cannabis reform implemented. And given that polling shows voters, especially Democrats, are motivated to support candidates who embrace marijuana legalization, the omission of that position on her campaign issues\u00a0page and in this latest campaign comment attacking Trump\u2019s record are all the more glaring.<\/p>\n Following Trump\u2019s recent announcement of support for the Florida cannabis legalization ballot measure, the campaign for Harris has worked to remind voters that while in office,\u00a0Trump \u201ctook marijuana reform backwards.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In a memo from a senior campaign spokesperson, the Harris campaign accused Trump of \u201cbrazen flip flops\u201d on cannabis. The Democratic campaign says it\u2019s one of the Republican former president\u2019s \u201cseveral bewildering \u2018policy proposals\u2019 that deserve real scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn issue after issue, Trump is saying one thing after having done another,\u201d the memo says. \u201cFor example: As a candidate in 2024, he suggests he is for decriminalizing marijuana \u2013 but as President, his own Justice Department cracked down on marijuana offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, however, the pushback against Trump on the issue wasn\u2019t accompanied by any specific details about Harris\u2019s marijuana platform.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s latest marijuana post\u00a0follows up on one he made last month in which he indicated\u2014but did not explicitly say\u2014he supported Amendment 3 in Florida. The earlier comments\u00a0predicted that Florida voters would approve the cannabis measure<\/a>\u00a0and generally discussed the benefits of legalization, but left some observers wanting more clarity on the former president\u2019s position on the specific state initiative.<\/p>\n Trump also discussed the medical benefits<\/a>\u00a0of cannabis and said legalization would be \u201cvery good\u201d for Florida in an interview with Lex Fridman last week.<\/p>\n Last month at a press conference, Trump told a reporter that\u00a0he\u2019s starting to \u201cagree a lot more\u201d that people should not be criminalized over marijuana<\/a>\u00a0given that it\u2019s \u201cbeing legalized all over the country\u201d\u2014adding that he would \u201cfairly soon\u201d reveal his position on the Florida ballot measure.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, longtime ally and GOP political operative Roger Stone, who is also a Florida resident and supports the legalization proposal, separately told Marijuana Moment that\u00a0if Trump did ultimately endorse the measure it would \u201cguarantee victory.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is sponsoring a bill to federally legalize marijuana called the States Reform Act, separately said that while\u00a0she hoped Trump would back the Biden administration\u2019s rescheduling move<\/a>, she also said part of the reason Republicans in Congress have declined to embrace marijuana policy change is because they\u2019re \u201cafraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also recently\u00a0went after Harris over her prosecutorial record on marijuana<\/a>, claiming that she put \u201cthousands and thousands of Black people in jail\u201d for cannabis offenses\u2014but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s line of attack, while misleading, was nonetheless notable in the sense that the GOP presidential nominee implied that he disagrees with criminalizing people over marijuana and is moving to leverage the idea that Harris played a role in racially disproportionate mass incarceration.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate<\/a>, choosing a candidate who backed numerous cannabis reform measures in Congress, called for an end to prohibition when he was running for governor and then signed a comprehensive legalization bill into law in 2023.<\/p>\n Marijuana Reform Advocates Launch \u2018Countdown To Clemency\u2019 Campaign, Pressing Biden To Free Cannabis Prisoners Before His Term Ends<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Harris Backed Broad Drug Decriminalization During 2020 Election Run, Resurfaced ACLU Questionnaire Shows<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As Vice President Kamala Harris faces criticism from marijuana reform advocates about her relative silence on cannabis policy issues since becoming the 2024 Democratic nominee, a resurfaced ACLU candidate questionnaire from 2019 shows she previously backed broader reform\u2014specifically, full federal decriminalization of drug possession. It\u2019s been well established that HarrisContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77774,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77773\/revisions\/77774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Harris Backed Broad Drug Decriminalization During 2020 Election Run, Resurfaced ACLU Questionnaire Shows<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"