Why Vice President Kamala Harris Is The Cannabis Nominee

Historically, the cannabis community was liberal. One would find a stereotypical, highly left-leaning weed reform advocate on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. These cannabis advocates fought tirelessly for legalization and medical access, alongside other civil liberties including LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and more.

But a lot has changed in the last few decades. The modern cannabis industry is moderate. They have an innate distrust of the government, and I don’t blame them. The hypocrisy of Reefer Madness has left the cannabis industry numb and angry at the U.S. government. The disillusionment led some weed folks to vote Republican to keep some of the money the industry has dredged out of them– or to be sheer anarchists and vote Libertarian, or not at all. Most simply wish for a world removed entirely from what the government and DEA do, cultivating their own reality, detached from all regulations. I get it.

Where Does Kamala Harris Stand On Cannabis?

Vice President and Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris has come out in favor of cannabis legalization for the first time since she began her campaign. This is a big deal. Initially reported by Tom Angell of Marijuana Moment, Harris spoke openly about cannabis reform on the podcast ‘All The Smoke,’ hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

“People should not be going to jail for smoking weed,” Vice President Harris said on a special episode that dropped Monday, September 30, 2024. “And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail. Second, I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris said.

Harris was once in law enforcement. She was once the “top cop” in California as the state’s Attorney General from 2011 to 2017. This has left some executives in the cannabis world tentative. Her remarks on criminalization demonstrate a profound understanding of what isn’t working.

Harris showed she’s capable of change. That’s why she co-sponsored a federal cannabis legalization bill as a U.S. senator in 2019.

“Actually, this is not a new position for me,” Harris said. “I have felt for a long time we need to legalize it. So that’s where I am on that.”

Harris has evolved her stance on legalization. She’s listening to the people. A recent report from Data For Progress found that 66% of voters across the political spectrum want cannabis to be federally legal. This percentage has doubled in the last two decades.

Americans have changed their minds about weed. So has VP Harris. Her comment on cannabis and the potential her presidency has to change the course of the industry in the U.S., is worth more to me than empty promises from the Republican nominee.

Where Does Donald Trump Stand On Cannabis?

The Harris campaign echoes this distrust for President Trump’s plans on cannabis. “As president, Trump cracked down on nonviolent marijuana offenses—undermining state legalization laws, opposed safe banking legislation, and even tried to remove protections for medical marijuana,” Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said to NBC News in early September. “Donald Trump does not actually believe in marijuana reform, but the American people are smart enough to see through his campaign lies.”

Trump says he will vote for Amendment 3 legalizing cannabis for adult use in Florida. He says he hopes the state will legalize, and I agree. He also affirms cannabis should be left to the states. This is where my agreement with the former president stops.

Amendment 3 is missing a critical home grow initiative. It is essential for medical cannabis patients in a state as vast and remote as Florida to be able to grow their own weed. Seeds are a fundamental right when weed is legalized, democratizing cannabis and access for all consumers. Most state regulations have made room for home grow, usually a humble operation of 6 plants, sometimes more. Florida has kept home grow illegal. Home grow has recently been made legal in New York, it’s legal in California, Oregon, Colorado, Michigan, and the list goes on. While I don’t believe it was kept out of Florida’s Amendment 3 on purpose by larger weed corporations pushing for the bill, I do hope future versions of this amendment can address the home grow demand. As a true liberal hippie might say, power to the people. Let them grow their own.

Why States’ Rights Only Go So Far For Cannabis

States’ rights can only go so far. The industry is in desperate need of cross-border trade and exports. We need safe banking and some sort of regulatory guideposts for the industry, not more bans and confusion on different cannabinoids. The confusion has only grown in 2024. One Democratic Senator from Oregon, Senator Ron Wyden, just introduced a Cannabinoids Regulatory Safety Act. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom at the same time signed a bill to make hemp-derived THC (called delta 8 THC), along with hemp products containing any percentage of THC, illegal. A lawsuit aiming to block the ban was immediately filed, but the ban has already taken effect.

The safety of citizens is at stake if we don’t legalize cannabis on a national level. The only reason consumers are buying subpar Delta-8 THC hemp products is because people want weed to be legal. Regulated or not, the demand exists in every state. Until we solve national legalization, the cannabinoid wrangling will be endless.

This “state’s rights” hands-off approach has gotten us to this point. It has left the national cannabis industry in distress. State’s legalization efforts, while impactful and necessary, have created a patchwork of chaotic regulations. Some of the earliest regulations, like in my home state of Colorado, completely left out equity and criminal justice reform. All the while, cannabis has remained illegal on the federal level, causing 280E tax nightmares for the weed industry.

Harris needs to go a step further and come out in support of the industry. It would display she is pro-weed and also, pro-small business. Freeing all state-level weed prisoners for both for possession and distribution should be at the very top of the list. Safe banking should be solved, of course, but more importantly, all state-level charges on cannabis need to be expunged. She needs to step forward into the future that inevitably calls, and the future shows weed as a ubiquitous CPG across the world.

“We’re not going back,” has been a campaign phrase for Harris. This saying also applies to weed. We aren’t going back to prohibition, we aren’t going back to the pain and suffering caused by the War on Drugs, and we aren’t going back to a regressive, state’s rights solution to a national problem.

While the running Republican nominee says he’s pro-weed, it’s another distraction. The true pro-weed party is still the hippie liberals. And a young, smart, woman liberal is going to legalize weed.