President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris say people should not be jailed for using or possessing marijuana, even though Harris has a track record of overseeing nearly 2,000 convictions for marijuana-related crimes. He said no.
Biden and Harris’ statements came as the Justice Department took further action on Thursday. reclassify Changing marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) website, marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule I drug, along with heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy.
“No one should go to jail just for smoking marijuana,” Harris wrote in the article. post on Thursday at X. “We have pardoned tens of thousands of people with federal convictions for simple marijuana possession.”
No one should go to jail for smoking marijuana.
We have pardoned tens of thousands of people with federal convictions for simple marijuana possession.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 16, 2024
In another post about X, Biden wrote, “No one should go to jail just for using or possessing marijuana.”
No one should be jailed just for using or possessing marijuana.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 17, 2024
Harris oversaw nearly 2,000 convictions for marijuana-related crimes during her time as San Francisco’s district attorney, according to data obtained by Bay Area News Group Mercury News. report In 2019.
During a Democratic primary debate in July 2019, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (I-HI) criticized Harris’ prosecutorial record.
“Senator Harris is proud of her career as a prosecutor and has said she will be prosecutor president, but I am very concerned about this career,” Gabbard said at the time.
Gabbard added that there were “too many examples to list” and that Harris “has jailed over 1,500 people for marijuana violations.” The numbers Gabbard referenced came from an article published by the Washington Free Beacon, which cited data from Harris’ time as California attorney general.
Between free beacons article“At least 1,560 people were sent to state prison for marijuana-related offenses between 2011 and 2016,” said a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which Gabbard was referring to. Said of san francisco chronicle This number was approximately 1,974 people.
The Mercury News explained:
During the last presidential debate in July, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard laughed when asked if Harris had ever smoked marijuana, even though she had “put more than 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations.” and slammed Harris over her marijuana conviction. Ms. Gabbard said that while Ms. Harris was attorney general, the majority of marijuana cases throughout the state were prosecuted by independently elected county district attorneys, yet California I was quoting the overall numbers.
But as San Francisco prosecutor from 2004 to 2010, Harris had wide discretion to decide which marijuana cases to prosecute and what sentences to seek.
The outlet continued to report that, according to data from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, during Harris’ time as a prosecutor, “her lawyers have filed 1,956 misdemeanor and felony charges related to growing, possessing, and selling marijuana.” We won a guilty verdict.”
Ms. Gabbard’s comments during the debate came months after Ms. Harris admitted and laughed during a February 2019 interview that she smoked marijuana.
