Kamala Harris announced Monday that if she were elected president, she would fully legalize recreational cannabis for adults at the federal level — the first time a presidential candidate has taken such an unequivocal position on ending cannabis prohibition.
As part of her pledge, she said she would take steps to ensure that black men, who are disproportionately incarcerated and disenfranchised by the war on drugs, could benefit from the industry.
Vince Sliwowski, a partner at the cannabis law firm Harris and Sliwoski, said he was “happy to see it because I like the messages,” but added: “She can’t just snap her fingers and do it if she comes to the office. . It is not something that can be done through executive orders.”
Griffen Thorne, also a lawyer specializing in cannabis, said the promise was “clearly political” as the announcement came just three weeks before the election. Thorne and other experts The Guardian spoke to suspect that Harris’ campaign is trying to boost the numbers of black voters, particularly black men, who are currently less likely to support Harris than Biden, according to a New York Times poll.
“Federal legalization of marijuana is a sound policy, and supporting it is a smart strategy — not just among Black voters, but among Americans across the board,” said Cat Power, director of drug markets and legal regulation at Drug Policy Action.
“As a Black woman and the first person of color to regulate marijuana for both medical and adult use, I understand the challenges of creating legal marijuana markets that work for Black men. I also recognize the profound harm caused by federal prohibition.”
Power added that it makes sense for Harris’ plan to include provisions that will remove barriers for Black men in cannabis and other areas.
Related: Donald Trump comes out in support of recreational marijuana use in Florida
It is striking that the promise distinguishes Harris from both her opponent and her predecessor. While Trump and Biden now support some level of cannabis legalization, Harris is the first to explicitly state that ending prohibition is a priority.
During his administration, Biden made a number of promises about cannabis, including expunging criminal records for possession convictions and rescheduling cannabis to be eligible for FDA approval. The DEA has made progress on the realignment, but it will not be implemented before the election.
And Biden only expunged a small portion of cannabis-related convictions during his administration.
“It was a little bit embarrassing because on his website he kept track of all the things he promised,” Sliwoski said.
Meanwhile, Trump has shifted his stance on cannabis this election season, including supporting an upcoming ballot initiative in Florida that would legalize recreational cannabis. But the decisions he made during his presidency left a lasting sense of distrust among advocates.
“One of the first things he did was appoint Jeff Sessions, a campaigner for the war on drugs, as his attorney general,” Sliwoski said. “The industry was really on edge, at least for the first few years of the Trump administration,” he explained.
Harris also differentiates himself from Trump by calling for social equality provisions that help black men benefit from the industry. But it is difficult to make such facilities work. Even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress during the Biden administration, Thorne pointed out that they failed to successfully pass cannabis policy reform — in part because of disagreements over whether social equity provisions went far enough went.
“They let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Thorne said.
While some Republicans in Congress now support cannabis reform, Thorne added, they are less likely to vote for bills with many social justice provisions.
Sliwoski suggests looking at the More Act to get an idea of what kind of provisions Harris might support if he were elected president.
Harris co-sponsored the bill when it was introduced in Congress in 2019. The bill would require the Bureau of Labor Statistics to track demographic information on cannabis business owners and employees and establish a trust fund dedicated to initiatives that help communities affected by the war. on medications.
State-level laws have attempted similar initiatives, but they often fail — the state’s legal cannabis industry remains heavily dominated by already wealthy white men.
“The inequality in the cannabis industry is partly due to banking restrictions and the high cost of entering the market,” said Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice University. “Individuals need money at the beginning of the process, or they need wealthy investors, and white men tend to have more of both.”
Social equity initiatives did not fully address barriers to entry in the sector and sometimes gave funding to people with questionable connections to the marginalized communities they were intended to serve, according to Politico reporting.
Within the sector, reactions to Harris’ promise have been mixed.
“I’m not shocked to hear another politician claim he’s demanding federal legalization of cannabis in hopes of getting a few extra votes during an election year. It’s not the first time, but I hope it’s the last time,” said Caleb Counts, CEO of Connected Cannabis. “Far too often, this industry has suffered far too many broken promises.”
On the other hand, Bryan Gerber, CEO of rolling paper company Hara Supply, found the news encouraging, as Harris’ support for cannabis reform predated her presidential bid.
“Now that Harris’ position is clear, it seems hopeful that she will sign a full legalization bill or related legislation, such as increased access to medical marijuana for veterans, social justice initiatives and industry banking reforms,” Gerber said. “Obviously, this is only possible if Congress can successfully get a bill to the president’s desk.”
