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.

  • Zink@programming.dev
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    8 months ago

    I barely touched weed my whole life until I got medical access ~5 years ago. I was also never a big drinker or user of other recreational substances.

    The stuff helps me so much that I use my vape or edibles almost every single day. That plus the margin of safety makes it downright cruel in my eyes that it’s prohibited in so many places.

    But I guess given the racist motives of the anti-marijuana push 40 years ago, maybe the cruelty was the point.

  • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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    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.

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      As an AG, it was her role to uphold the law and bring forward prosecutions.

      I’m recognizing positive change, which is an option now with her new role

      Edit I’ll also acknowledge it’s an election year and this is a popular topic TOO

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      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
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        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).

  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 months ago

    As quickly as possible…now that we’ve done nothing about it for nearly four years, but we have to win another election soon.

    • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      How many pot smokers do you think she sent to prison as a DA?

      And all those teenage “super predators” that Joe, Jack and Bill sent to prison

        • John Richard@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          It’s like the DNC hiring previous lobbyist from companies like Uber, Lyft & Airbnb to define union policies.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        And all those teenage “super predators” that Joe, Jack and Bill sent to prison

        That’s what I dont get when people criticize Harris…

        Biden literally sponsored the two crime bills back in the 90s that have caused 30 years of bullshit.

        Harris as prosecutor was very outspoken about how stupid that shit was and didn’t follow the “three felonies = life in jail” bullshit.

        If people want to talk about poor policing oractices, Biden is hands down the person most responsible in the Dem party. And all his “I can compromise with republicans” is how he got Dems to support such backwards legislation.

        Harris was a DA, she wasn’t setting national procedures and passing laws

  • Omgboom@lemmy.zip
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    8 months ago

    “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed”

    -The person who made a career putting people in jail for smoking weed

    • MDKAOD@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      Harris has been pro weed for years now. One of the foremost issues with our political system in the US is that these people are elected by a constituency that demands a job be done in a way that they want. (I am purposely ignoring the corporate donor aspect for this statement)

      The locality (and the era) demanded drug dealers go to jail, so she did her job. Where Harris has floundered is how she talks about it and attonrs for it today.

      You can be outspoken about a politicians past, but it’s disingenuous to ignore that a politician has changed, especially so if they have changed with positive progression.

  • Flax@feddit.uk
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    8 months ago

    I unironically think that if marijuana should be banned, then so should alcohol

    • Nyoka@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Maybe try reading about the 1920s attempt and get back to us on if you still feel that way.

      • Flax@feddit.uk
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        8 months ago

        The difference is I don’t think either should be banned, really. But mainly because the bans just don’t work.

  • Monkey With A Shell@lemmy.socdojo.com
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    You know, this is a pretty smart way to approach the political side of this tactically.

    Biden can’t say deschedule it outright without offending at least some borderline fence sitters and the elder crowd indoctrinated with the old propaganda that made it out to be among the most terrible things.

    By having the younger VP who wouldn’t really have direct authority to have it changed but is directly I’m the same circles, it gets the idea out there as a ‘very strong unofficial stance’.

    Next step, the ‘cool grandpa’ moment when Biden gets to make a gesture for the younger crowd by having it pulled from the schedules. Financially the feds have undoubtedly been eyeing the income (and lack of incarceration costs) brought into states with legal sales for a while and would like a piece of it too.

    • Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      So lies and deception? I don’t know who is left to deceive when this sounds like the position the WH had two decades ago (when Biden was in Harris’s exact role). Since then the only changes have been brought about by State’s thumbing their nose at the Federal Government. I can honestly say the argument for “State’s Rights” hold more promise for marijuana legalization than Harris’s words.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Neoliberals dont want elected to help people, they want to get elected.

        It’s why they can see something like this where a president could do something day 1, but waits four years before doing it, and call it smart strategy. Even when it’s not a political.process and the president can do it on their own.

        It’s why there’s always the focus on “stopping by the republican”.

        That’s all neoliberals want to accomplish, get in office and hold on as long as they can.

        Progressives want to get elected to help people, and have faith if you help people they’ll vote for you.

        There’s no sane reason for neoliberals to be running the Dem.party on national and state levels, but it’s a private party and they get an absolute shit ton of money from billionaires and corporations. So it’s very hard to kick their old asses out of power while also fighting off conservative extremist Republicans.

        But when the neoliberals wins, nothing gets fixed. Their dogs chasing a car, if they catch it they dont know what to do, so they lay down and wait for another car to drive by.

        • Monkey With A Shell@lemmy.socdojo.com
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          8 months ago

          Progressive idealism is all well and good, but without acknowledging the realities of a highly polarized world and the balances of power in play all it will ever be is idealism, never realized fact.

          Many of the broader growths in society didn’t have a defining ‘flip the switch’ moment and instead where the result of small changes that then where the building blocks to bigger ones after the smaller steps where accepted as normal parts of society.

        • idiomaddict@feddit.de
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          8 months ago

          The problem is that this is potentially the only positive change they could make in people’s lives that might actually make money, so once they’ve done it, there’s nothing else that lines up with both the interests of the party and their voters. Even prison reform as a whole might be a net loss in spite of the current system’s incredible cost to taxpayers due to the chilling effect it has on social mobility and the slave labor that the bourgeoisie can profit off of.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            We can’t do the only easy thing we can do because then we won’t have any easy things we can promise to do that we just won’t!!!

  • Simon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 months ago

    Pretty sure she put a ton of people in jail for this in Washington state. If that’s really how you feel where was the leniency then?

      • Simon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        8 months ago

        Not sure why the downvotes but it’s true. I don’t have case specifics - just google around a bit.

        • PorkSoda@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          In what capacity did she put people in jail in Washington state? Let’s follow this thing through to the end.

            • PorkSoda@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              No because he’s just parroting a talking point that he’s heard here without even being accurate.

              He could at least acknowledge that her position has changed and we’re close to progress.

              • John Richard@lemmy.world
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                Her positioned has changed? If you want a politician that is true to their beliefs then you elect someone like Bernie. If you’re okay with someone that will revert course again when they want to fill their pockets with more private-prison money, but at least they’re not Trump, then you go with Biden/Kamala.

                • PorkSoda@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Or, and hear me out on this, her position truly changed.

                  I used to think billionaires were cool. Now I think they’re detrimental to society and represent a lot of what’s wrong with wealth inequality in this country. People learn, opinions change - we should welcome that.

  • rebelsimile@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    “Somebody ought to do something about this ASAP,” says one of the only people on the planet actually capable of doing something about it for the last 4 years. OK.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Biden could order cannabis descheduled ( what his campaign program was) and if agencies don’t listen, fucking fire the agency heads and hire someone that will. It literally one of the handful of things he could do himself.

      But somehow it’s 3.5 years into his first term. And Biden has apparently compromised even more with himself and we won’t get his original compromise of descheduling.

      When a president acts like this right before their next election, lots of voters rationally stop believing any of their current campaign promises.

      • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        He attempted to forgive student debt (which was in his right to do so as head of the executive branch) and got swatted down by the corrupt Supreme Court. What do you think will happen if he rescheduled marijuana?

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          He waited 2 years till he lost the house, made a half assed attempt he knew would fail, then said:

          See? Trying is just a waste of time, we should never try

          And voters remember that when it’s two years later and he tries to tell them elections are important and if Trump wins suddenly the president is all powerful.

          Neoliberals do the same shit as republicans. They need their voters to believe that when the other team is president, the president is all powerful. But when their own team is in power, the president can’t do shit, so it’s not their fault campaign promises aren’t kept.

      • zigmus64@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        What do you mean? This is standard political fare… most of the population has the memory of a goldfish, so popular shit like this always waits until the election cycle.

        Additionally, an executive order, or changing the chief of the DEA, are probably the least effective ways to handle it. All it would take is a republican administration to undo it all. The way that sticks best is legislation.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          most of the population has the memory of a goldfish, so popular shit like this always waits until the election cycle.

          Stupid uninformed people…

          Most of them vote R or not at all.

          But neoliberals refuse to acknowledge people who aren’t ignorant and do care.

          “Because what are ya gonna do, vote Republican?”

          It doesn’t work.

          Maybe we try helping people? Worst case scenario, Dems actually help people when they’re in office.

          Isn’t that the whole point of electing Dems? Isn’t that better than just stalling the Republicans destruction of our country?

          • zigmus64@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I completely agree… but that’s how this shit goes. This is definitely one of the situations where both sides pull the same shenanigans. When was the last time you heard Kamala Harris open her mouth? Granted, she’s been busy in a divided Senate, but Dan Quayle was more visibly present during the elder Bush’s administration than Kamala has been during Biden’s. Now she crawls out of the Senate chambers to talk about cannabis? Better late than never I guess.

            It’s not like Biden’s administration hasn’t been doing anything useful. But these wildly popular policy initiatives that would do a lot of good often wait for politically convenient moments when it’ll be fresh in the electorate’s memory.

            • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Which is the exact danger of running neoliberals that only care about being elected.

              The only thing making this “how shit goes” is both parties get money from the same donors who don’t want anything fixed.

              It’s not like how the sun sets everyday and there’s nothing we can do.

              So telling people “that’s the way she goes” isn’t helping and is only hurting turnout.

              • zigmus64@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                Ok… so how do we run people genuinely interested in fixing it? How do we make this not how shit goes? I can’t argue that it’s really disheartening, but the idea that any party is going to run anyone primarily interested in anything other than getting reelected is absurd. The National Committees for each party would never give them a platform. Running third party is suicide here.

                The real change that needs to happen is election reform to provide more transparent campaign financing and moving away from a First Past the Post voting system. That’s how you get people in who can actually fix the issues we have in a constructive and positive manner. It won’t be perfect but it would be helpful. Then we’d have a flourishing of different political parties emerge and voters would have actual choice.

                “That’s the way she goes” shouldn’t hurt turnout. The reality is we’re facing the single greatest threat to the basic ideals of the American Republican Democracy. Bigger things are afoot than cannabis policy. I’ll take this political grandstanding from the Biden administration 10 times out of 10 than one more day of a Trump administration.

                • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Ok… so how do we run people genuinely interested in fixing it? How do we make this not how shit goes?

                  Undo citizens united would be a great first step…

                  Something that the majority of Dem voters agree with.

                  Without those donations and the obligations they come with, neoliberals would stop winning primary elections, and the ones still in office would stop having a reason to oppose progress.

                  I didn’t read anything else you typed after that, because if you didn’t understand that already, I don’t see how anything else you could have said was in any way relevant

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Lemmy sees something good happen:

      “Not good enough!”

      We all know it should have happened before, but dismissing that the vice president just publicly called for this is silly

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The words of a politician are not accomplishments.

        If it ever gets descheduled, it’ll be an accomplishment. I’m not going to treat announcements as accomplishments.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          Public discourse from a sitting executive politician represents progress. It is not enough yet, but it is progress. In years past such statements would have been massively disruptive, and via speech like this the topic is being normalized.

          It’s not enough yet. We arenf done

          • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Stop expecting me to believe that politicians’ lies are progress just because you believe them.

            It’s not an accomplishment until it’s accomplished.

            • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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              8 months ago

              Just because you don’t understand the power of normalized discourse doesn’t mean I have some obligation to you.

              I’m just telling you how reality works.

              Edit im proud to hear more discussion of climate, LGBT, drug decrim and other issues, at increasingly public and increasingly executive levels.

              • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                I know the difference between hot air and accomplishments. You’re not going to gaslight me into accepting the former as the latter. All you’re doing is convincing me that you prefer words to accomplishments.

                • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  50 years ago a woman, non-white politician wouldn’t have been a common thing. Part of how we got to where we are today is via public, popularized discourse.

                  The same occurs in this article and the speech that lead to it.

                  It doesn’t mean the world is changing in an active sense, but it does mean the conversation is happening. This is part of the power of executive office.

                  I’m sorry you had to learn about this from me.

  • Clbull@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I think if Biden and Harris were to officially endorse decriminalizing or legalizing recreational marijuana, we’d see a Democrat landslide. But that would require some actual common sense from Congressmen.

    • mikezane@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      Let’s hope more politicians don’t do things that the majority of the people want in order to be reelected, what a terrible world that would be.

      • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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        My point is they haven’t done it already because their doners want people in their prisons. It is the same reason it will never pass and they know it. She is just saying words. That’s it. Pandering to people dumb enough to believe them. Just like their spill about taxing the rich and student loan relief. It goes directly against the interest of the people that got them where they are. The half ass attempts are to make us think they tried and the big bad Republicans stopped it. It’s all theater.