Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called on the federal government to move “as quickly as possible” to change the way it officially classifies marijuana, saying that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”

“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible,” Harris said. “We need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment. This issue is stark when one considers the fact that on the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin ― as dangerous as heroin ― and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair.”

Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration. That classification designates it one of the most dangerous drugs possible, with no medicinal uses. Other substances in the same category include heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Marijuana advocates have been pushing for years for the federal government to either reschedule marijuana to a different category or deschedule it entirely.

  • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    172
    arrow-down
    22
    ·
    8 months ago

    Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco, previously unreported records from the DA’s office show. Her prosecutors appear to have convicted people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than under her predecessor, based on data about marijuana arrests in the city.

    As the political winds blow with her I guess. At least it’s a positive change.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      122
      arrow-down
      20
      ·
      8 months ago

      Eh.

      That was when it went from jail to a fine though.

      So lots of people stopped giving a shit and started smoking publicly.

      And she’s been pro legalization for years now.

      There’s lots of shit to criticize Biden and Harris on, but Harris’s time as a DA and her cannabis conviction just isn’t a good one.

      • ArcRay@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        19
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        “Under Harris, the D.A.'s office obtained more than 1,900 convictions for marijuana offenses, including persons simultaneously convicted of marijuana offenses and more serious crimes.[73] The rate at which Harris’s office prosecuted marijuana crimes was higher than the rate under Hallinan, but the number of defendants sentenced to state prison for such offenses was substantially lower.[73] Prosecutions for low-level marijuana offenses were rare under Harris, and go her office had a policy of not pursuing jail time for marijuana possession offenses.”

        From her Wikipedia page (the reference is pay walled and im not invested enough to figure it out).

      • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        If they’re going with the crowd, that’s societal inertia or peer pressure, not change. Harris is not making a big controversial stand, a majority of Americans want legalization - across demographics, political leanings, and income.

        Now if she was advocating heroin prescriptions as a harm reduction, or expunging her own convictions for possession, or a systemic reevaluation of our drug law and enforcement approach? THAT’S a change that shows she understands how the law is bad, not this new political posturing to win votes callously

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          8 months ago

          That’s honestly better I think. If she doesn’t personally believe it, but is expressing support for it politically, that means the topic is winning.

    • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      35
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      8 months ago

      Or this is what she wants the law to be, that was what she did when her job was to enforce the law that existed back then.

      • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        8 months ago

        DAs always have discretion in what cases to drop or move forward, along with being able to offer plea bargains. They aren’t legally required to prosecute everyone who smokes weed, it’s just good optics to a certain political class to do so. And that political class was a much bigger tent even 10-15 years ago.

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      8 months ago

      Also, they talk about marijuana every time there’s an election, then don’t actually change it.