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Vice President Kamala Harris visited St. Paul Health Center, an abortion clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday.
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CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that it is “absurd” and “patently unfair” for marijuana to be treated the same as heroin and other Schedule I drugs and more seriously than fentanyl under federal law. He said that there is.
“Marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin and more dangerous than fentanyl. This is absurd, not to mention patently unfair,” Harris said during a roundtable discussion on the administration's cannabis reform plan. ” he said. “DEA is working as quickly as possible and I am confident they will continue to do so, and we look forward to seeing their results.”
The comments, made during a White House roundtable, said the Biden administration is pushing for changes that criminal justice advocates have long sought, appealing to Black voters, younger voters and a broad base of Democratic voters. We hope that this will help increase enthusiasm among the audience.
Harris has been traveling the country trying to encourage the Democratic base about the possibility of voting for her and President Joe Biden a second time, including appealing to young voters.
Just before the 2022 midterm elections, the administration began the process of reconsidering how marijuana is treated under federal law. Biden has pardoned all previous federal crimes for simple marijuana possession and encouraged all governors to pardon state crimes. That same year, Mr. Biden asked U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the Attorney General to begin an administrative process to consider how marijuana use is scheduled under federal law.
The vice president met with musician Fat Joe and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and alluded to her role in what she described as an unequal criminal justice system.
“I believe America's promise includes equal justice under the law. And for too many, our criminal justice system fails to meet that core principle.” said Harris, who began her political career as a prosecutor in California.
“And I say that knowing full well how this system has worked, including my experience as a prosecutor,” she added.
The group participating in the roundtable included people who had received pardons for marijuana-related convictions.
Biden mentioned cannabis reform in his State of the Union address last week.
“No one should go to jail just for using it or having it on their record,” Biden said in a speech last week.
Harris echoed similar sentiments Friday, saying, “I believe — and I think all of us at this table believe — that no one should ever have to go to jail for smoking marijuana.” she said.
Harris acknowledged that enforcement of cannabis laws disproportionately impacts people of color, but said, “And what we have to do is to protect far too many people from simple marijuana possession.” “It's about recognizing that people are being sent to prison,” he added.
Harris' own feelings on marijuana reform have changed over the course of her career.
In a 2019 interview on “The Breakfast Club,” Harris admitted to using marijuana in college. “And I smoked — I certainly smoked,” Harris told co-host Charlamagne Tha God, referring to former President Bill Clinton's infamous “I didn't smoke weed” line. Ta. During his 1992 campaign he answered similar questions.
But Harris oversaw numerous marijuana convictions as San Francisco's district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and opposed a failed 2010 effort to legalize marijuana in California, the Los Angeles Times reported. Reported.
She called for an end to the federal ban on medical marijuana in 2015, but stopped short of full legalization.
Harris wrote in a 2019 book that marijuana should be legalized.
CNN's Holmes Lybrand and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.