Legalizing marijuana isn’t as hot-button a difficulty on this election as abortion or immigration, however each presidential candidates former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have weighed in, and for as soon as, they’re in settlement.
Each, nevertheless, are lacking a giant level.
Final month, Trump posted on the Fact Social platform: “As I’ve beforehand acknowledged, I imagine it’s time to finish pointless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small quantities of marijuana for private use. We should additionally implement good rules, whereas offering entry for adults, to secure, examined product. As a Floridian, I will likely be voting YES on Modification 3 this November. As President, we’ll proceed to concentrate on analysis to unlock the medical makes use of of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to move widespread sense legal guidelines, together with secure banking for state approved corporations, and supporting states rights to move marijuana legal guidelines, like in Florida, that work so nicely for his or her residents.”
A spokesman for Harris’s marketing campaign dismissed it as “blatant pandering,” the Hill reported.
On Monday, nevertheless, Harris spoke up on the problem for the primary time publicly since she grew to become the Democratic nominee.
“I simply assume we’ve got come to a degree the place we’ve got to grasp that we have to legalize it and cease criminalizing this habits,” Harris mentioned throughout an interview on the sports activities and tradition podcast “All of the Smoke.”
“I simply really feel strongly individuals shouldn’t be going to jail for smoking weed. And we all know traditionally what that has meant and who has gone to jail.”
The vice chairman added that supporting marijuana legalization is “not a brand new place for me. I’ve felt for a very long time we have to legalize it.”
Not fairly.
As San Francisco’s district lawyer and Legal professional Basic for California, Harris aggressively prosecuted marijuana-related crimes. She additionally spoke out towards Proposition 19, the failed 2010 California poll measure to legalize and regulate marijuana. She switched sides as a senator, and co-sponsored laws to finish the federal prohibition of marijuana.
Legalizing weed performs nicely among the many youthful voting demographic, one coveted by each events. However the query: “what occurs after marijuana is authorized and available” is never requested nor answered.
A 2022 examine by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being on site visitors crash charges after legalizing weed discovered that leisure use of marijuana was related to a 6.5% enhance in damage crash charges and a 2.3% enhance in deadly crash charges.
Legalizing marijuana could spur a lift in entrepreneurship within the hashish business and create jobs, but it surely isn’t with out penalties. If each candidates are touting the legalization of weed throughout the nation, then each want a technique to scale back buzzed driving and reduce down on marijuana-influenced crashes.
Profitable over voters is one factor, however placing Individuals vulnerable to hurt by extra drivers underneath the affect is short-sighted and doubtlessly deadly.
