The other day, a potential candidate for the US presidency from the Democratic Party in the 2020 elections, Senator Kamala Harris, spoke out with the open support of the federal legalization of therapeutic cannabis. Last Monday, during an interview on the program “The Breakfast Club”, the candidate admitted that she had often used cannabis in her youth, also supporting the idea of legalizing the plant for its therapeutic use and study in the laboratory. “You are joking? Of course, I am familiar with marijuana and its use. After all, a part of my family is born in Jamaica, where using a plant is almost a universal tradition, ”she said to a question from the host about having personal experience in using marijuana. “I’ll say right away: unlike one other well-known politician, I smoked weed inhaling her smoke, ”she added with a smile, giving an allusion to Bill Clinton’s long-standing confession.
“Of course, it was a long time ago, but I do not deny that I used marijuana for recreational purposes and enjoyed it,” continues Miss Harris. “Actually. For this reason, I am not against the legalization of cannabis: As far as I know, when used, the plant only relaxes the human body and improves his mood. What we need in these difficult times is a similar means of fighting aggression and negativity. ”
“To begin with, we should adopt a limited version of the reform in order to open up access to people in need, and also allow scientists to freely conduct experiments on the plant. Further reforms can be carried out after research confirms that marijuana does not have long-term negative effects on the development and health of the human brain, ”she said.
At the moment, one of the main national organizations of cannabis activists, NORML, highly appreciates the position of Miss Harris, considering her one of the main political supporters of the legalization process in Congress. In particular, Miss Harris attracted the attention of the hemp community last year, when she sharply criticized the policy of the former US Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. “I will tell you what kind of justice reforms California needs: We need resources to fight international organized crime groups and modern slave traders exploiting migrants, not additional funds for ABN special forces, which only do what confiscates legitimate hemp medicine from old women, chronically ill children and veterans with disabilities. ”
Of course, Miss Harris was not always supporters of hemp reforms. Back in 2014, she refused to consider the possibility of recreational reform in the territory of her native state of California, and also refused to comment on the position of her then rival for the post of the State Prosecutor General from the Republican Party, who supported the idea of legalization. “He is entitled to his own opinion on this issue, but I do not agree with him,” she then gave her only comment.
However, in recent years, the position of Harris, like many other politicians from both the Democratic and the Republican parties, has radically changed in the direction of open support for full national reform (which is not surprising, considering that according to the latest data, already about 62%. The country’s population is ready to support the full, universal legalization of marijuana). Last year, Miss Harris officially sponsored the Republican Senator’s project, Cory Booker, called the Act on Protection of Regional Legalization, aimed at protecting local reforms from possible sanctions from federal law enforcement agencies.
In his recently published book, “Truths close to us: History and culture of America”Harris paid attention to the problem of criminalizing cannabis, describing in detail how this policy was used by state and federal governments to combat youth movements, and, of course, to oppress the rights of Latin American and African American communities. “Although a number of studies and surveys show that all ethnic groups in the country consume cannabis with approximately the same amount, mainly related to the storage, consumption and distribution of plant disorders, the representatives of the African American and Latin American communities are in conclusion,” Harris reports . “If we legalize cannabis, then the police and other authorities can no longer use the criminalization of cannabis as a tool to control and terrorize these groups of the public.”
“It’s not worthwhile to deny that historically our country quite significantly limited the economic and social prospects of people according to their ethnic, class and gender characteristics, thereby casting a shadow on our democratic and meritocratic traditions on which the founding fathers built the United States,” she noted in an interview last Monday. “For this reason, in addition to the elimination of laws previously used, in fact, to criminalize certain groups of the population, we should adopt provisions that can increase their participation in the new market, as well as allocate tax funds to help various ethnic public and educational organizations.”