Legalizing marijuana on the nationwide stage is usually well-liked with Individuals — 57% of individuals say marijuana ought to be authorized for each medical and leisure functions, whereas 32% say it ought to be authorized for medical use solely, in keeping with a January Pew survey. Solely 11% of Individuals stated it should not be authorized in any respect. The problem is one presidents have largely ignored, however Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have talked in regards to the problem in the course of the 2024 marketing campaign.
Listed here are the views they’ve expressed to this point on marijuana legalization.
Trump on marijuana legalization
Trump hasn’t stated he’d help legalizing leisure weed nationally. Throughout his 2016 marketing campaign, Trump advised he was in favor of leaving the problem with the states. In October 2015, Trump stated marijuana legalization “ought to be a state problem, state by state.” As president, Trump’s administration continued to uphold the federal prohibition of marijuana use.
As part of his 2021 finances, Trump proposed ending a federal coverage defending state medical marijuana packages from any Justice Division intervention.
Trump has stated he’d vote to legalize leisure weed in Florida
Trump stated in September that he would vote for a Florida poll measure to legalize leisure marijuana use. Different Republicans, together with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, oppose the measure. The modification would legalize the leisure use of marijuana for folks 21 years and older, permitting folks to have as much as about three ounces at a time.
“As I’ve beforehand said, I imagine it’s time to finish useless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small quantities of marijuana for private use,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Reality Social. “As a Floridian, I will likely be voting YES on Modification 3 this November.”
Former first girl Melania Trump has stated she and the previous president plan to vote in Florida on Election Day.
Trump has stated he needs to proceed analysis on medical makes use of of marijuana
Trump has additionally stated he needs to proceed analysis to “unlock the medical makes use of of marijuana to a Schedule III drug,” though the Drug Enforcement Company introduced earlier this 12 months below President Biden that it will transfer marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug below the Managed Substances Act, that means fewer restrictions. Schedule I medication are thought of to haven’t any accepted medical use and a excessive potential for abuse. Different Schedule I medication embody heroin and LSD.
Schedule III medication, which embody these used for ache or urge for food suppression, have a decrease potential for misuse, however their use may lead to psychological dependence. This class consists of ketamine, decrease doses of opioid analgesics and anabolic steroids, as an illustration.
“As president, we are going to proceed to deal with analysis to unlock the medical makes use of of marijuana to a Schedule III drug, and work with Congress to go frequent sense legal guidelines, together with secure banking for state licensed firms, and supporting states rights to go marijuana legal guidelines, like in Florida, that work so effectively for his or her residents,” Trump wrote on Reality Social in September.
What’s Kamala Harris’ stance on marijuana legalization?
Harris hasn’t made legalizing marijuana a central theme of her marketing campaign, however she has stated the drug ought to not be criminalized. Harris stated she feels “strongly folks shouldn’t be going to jail for smoking weed.”
“I simply suppose we now have come to some extent the place we now have to grasp that we have to legalize it and cease criminalizing this habits,” Harris stated throughout an interview on the sports activities and tradition podcast, “All of the Smoke.”
Harris prosecuted marijuana instances as district lawyer
However after she was elected district lawyer of San Francisco in 2002, Harris prosecuted marijuana offenses when the drug was nonetheless unlawful within the Golden State. And her prosecution of marijuana crimes, together with her prosecution of males of coloration, has been a criticism amongst some voters.
As California lawyer normal, an workplace she was elected to in 2010, Harris opposed permitting marijuana to be bought for leisure use.
Marijuana wasn’t legalized for leisure use in California till 2016.
Harris’ views on marijuana as U.S. senator
As a U.S. senator capable of form regulation as an alternative of a prosecutor needing to observe present regulation, her method towards marijuana started to shift.
By 2015, when she was operating for U.S. Senate, she instructed the San Francisco Chronicle she had “no ethical objection” to legalizing the leisure use of marijuana.
And in 2019 as she was operating for president, Harris launched laws to legalize marijuana and expunge nonviolent weed offenses.
