Vice President Kamala Harris supports marijuana legalization, saying no one should be jailed “for smoking weed,” despite her career overseeing nearly 2,000 convictions for marijuana-related crimes. expressed support for.
During an interview with all the smoke podcastwhen asked about her views on cannabis, Harris said it's time to legalize marijuana and that we need to “stop criminalizing” cannabis smoking.
“I feel very strongly that no one should go to jail just for smoking marijuana,” Harris said. “And we know historically what that meant and who went to prison.”
“Secondly, I think we're at a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize this and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris added. “So, I actually…this is not a new position for me. I've felt for a long time that this needs to be legalized, so that's the position I'm working on.”
As Breitbart News reported, Harris said At a roundtable event in March, she said she believes “no one should have to go to jail for smoking marijuana.”
Harris and President Joe Biden also statement in Post After the Department of Justice took steps to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug, X argued that “no one should go to jail for smoking marijuana.”
Harris' support for marijuana legalization comes after Harris, who oversaw about 2,000 convictions for marijuana-related crimes during her time as San Francisco district attorney, according to data obtained by Bay Area News Group Mercury News. This was done later. reported In 2019.
Harris was criticized by former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-HI) regarding her prosecutorial record during the 2019 Democratic primary debate.
During the debate, Gabbard said Harris has “put more than 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations,” citing figures from a document. article The Washington Free Beacon used data from Harris' time as California's attorney general, the Mercury News reported.
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. Gabbard misleadingly cited California's overall numbers while Harris was attorney general — the majority of marijuana cases in the state were in independently elected counties. Despite being prosecuted by the district attorney.
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.
“During Harris' seven years as top prosecutor, her lawyers won 1,956 misdemeanor and felony convictions for marijuana possession, cultivation and sale, according to prosecutor's office data,” the newspaper reported. Ta. “That includes people who were convicted of a marijuana offense and a more serious crime at the same time.”
