Where vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris stands on marijuana
Harris, a former attorney general of California, made marijuana reform a major component of her criminal justice platform when she unsuccessfully ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Joe Biden has selected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his vice presidential running mate. She has evolved significantly on marijuana policy over her career. Though she coauthored an official voter guide argument opposing a California cannabis legalization measure as a prosecutor in 2010, she went on to sponsor legislation to federally deschedule marijuana in 2019. Harris is the chief Senate sponsor of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act—a comprehensive piece of legalization legislation that includes various social equity and restorative justice provisions. Advocates will be watching to see if she continues to advocate for the reform move as she’s on-boarded to the Biden campaign. (See also: 67% of Americans are ready to end federal cannabis prohibition)