Kamala Harris Will Fully Legalise Recreational Cannabis
Harris has pledged to take measures to ensure that Black men, disproportionately affected by prohibition, would stand a good chance of benefitting from the new fledgling legal cannabis market
Some however are sceptical, believing that this recent declaration was “clearly political”, given that that it came just three weeks before the election. Many believe it is little more than a last-minute attempt to secure Black voters.
While Trump and Biden are now known to support cannabis legalisation to some degree, Harris is the first to state that completely ending prohibition would be a focus during her time in the White House.
Where Does US Reform Stand at Present?
During his presidency, Biden made several promising moves forward, including expunging the criminal records of those penalised for possession as well as starting the process of rescheduling cannabis. The DEA has so far made some headway on rescheduling; however, it won’t pass before the next election.
Meanwhile, Trump appears to have had a change of heart on cannabis this election season, including announcing his support of an impending Florida ballot endeavour that wants to legalise recreational cannabis. However, the decisions previously made during his presidency mean many advocates still do not trust him.
Harris has elevated herself and her pro-cannabis views away from Trump by calling for social equity conditions to help Black communities benefit from the legal cannabis industry. However, making such provisions a successful reality will be hard.
Even when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress during Biden’s administration, they still failed to pass cannabis reform policy, due in part to disputes over the proposed social equality provisions going far enough. While some Republicans in Congress do support cannabis reform, they are much less likely to vote for bills that place an emphasis on social equity.
“Inequities in the cannabis industry are due in part to banking restrictions and the high cost of entry into the market. Individuals need to have money at the beginning of the process, or they need wealthy investors, and white men tend to have more of both.” Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice University
With Harris’s stance clear it is hoped that she will sign a full-scale legalisation bill that would increase medical cannabis access for veterans as well as addressing social justice enterprises and banking reforms within the legal industry. This is ofcourse, is only possible however, if Congress can successfully create a bill and get it in front of the president.
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Liz Filmer
