(NEXSTAR) — Marijuana legalization has long been a topic of political conversation, especially over the last year as talks about reclassifying it as a less dangerous drug have continued.
While the federal process of rescheduling marijuana trudges on, some are looking at the Oval Office — and who will be moving in come January — in anticipation.
So where do presidential nominees Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump stand on the matter?
Harris on marijuana legalization
Harris recently spoke on the issue for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee during an extended interview with the sports and culture podcast “All the Smoke.”
In the interview, released Monday, Harris said she believes “we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” The Hill reports.
“I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed,” she told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. “And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail.”
While she went further than President Joe Biden by expressing support for full legalization, Harris has been criticized for her stance on marijuana in the past.
As The Hill reports, Harris aggressively prosecuted marijuana-related crimes while district attorney and attorney general in San Francisco and California, respectively. When she was running for president in 2019, however, she called for nonviolent marijuana-related criminal offenses to be expunged.
She also spoke out about a failed 2010 ballot measure in the state that would have legalized and regulated marijuana. But once she became a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation to end the federal prohibition of marijuana.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, recently dodged a question on marijuana legalization and expressed support for it being left to individual states.
Trump on marijuana legalization
Earlier this year, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would vote yes on an amendment to legalize marijuana in Florida come Election Day.
“As I have previously stated, I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” he wrote. “We must also implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults to safe, tested product.”
He later added that he would work on marijuana reform if he is elected to a second term, expressing support for rescheduling the drug and working “with Congress to pass common sense laws.”
When running for president in 2016, Trump said that marijuana legislation should be left to the states. While Trump was in office, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions lifted an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the marijuana trade in states where the drug is legal.
His running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), previously voted against the SAFER Banking Act, explaining to a constituent that he feared the bill would “pave the way for more widespread marijuana use and federal legalization.”
Where Americans stand
About 70% of American adults said marijuana should be legal in a Gallup poll taken last year, the highest level recorded by the polling firm since it first asked about marijuana policy in 1969. By contrast, only about one-third of respondents supported marijuana legalization 20 years ago.
Last year’s Gallup poll showed the highest support for marijuana among young voters, a key demographic in seven presidential battleground states.
An analysis of national survey data published earlier this year found that an estimated 17.7 million people reported using marijuana daily or near-daily in 2022 — up dramatically from less than 1 million people in 1992. Though alcohol is still more widely used, the report marked the first time that the number of Americans who use marijuana just about every day surpassed the number who drink that often.
Nearly half the country has already legalized medical cannabis, recreational marijuana, or both as of 2024.
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
