Kamala Harris: 'We Need to Legalize' Cannabis, VP Says For First Time As Presidential Candidate In 'All The Smoke' Podcast
"All in the Smoke" Podcast via Twitter
This is the first time Harris has publicly discussed her position on cannabis legalization since becoming Democratic presidential nominee.
The basketball-focused podcast “All the Smoke,” which interviewed Kobe Bryant several weeks before his untimely 2020 death, has since exploded in popularity featuring celebs and sports icons. On Monday, the podcast took it up a notch with its release of a sit-down interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Podcast hosts and former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson talked with Harris about policy issues, the economy, upcoming elections, social justice and more. Naturally, cannabis legalization also came up in the 47-minute conversation.
The Washington Post called nabbing Harris for an interview a “coup for a podcast with popularity that has remained largely confined to sports and entertainment.” That said, “All the Smoke’s” YouTube channel has more than a million subscribers, so the feeling was likely mutual.
It's Time To Legalize
Harris said the time has come to legalize marijuana, essentially marking the first time the vice president has publicly discussed her position on cannabis legalization since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee in late July.
"I just feel strongly, people should not be going to jail for smoking weed. And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail," Harris told Barnes and Jackson.
Harris was apparently referring to the racial disparity in cannabis-possession arrests. On average, Black people are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges, according to ACLU data.
"Second, I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior," she said. "And actually, this is not a new position for me. I have felt for a long time we need to legalize. So that's where I am on that."
The episode came out just one day before the first and probably only debate between the vice-presidential nominees, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and former president Donald Trump's VP pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.
Trump's Remarks On Harris’ Racial Identity
Barnes mentioned Donald Trump’s snide comments on Harris’ racial identity and asked how she felt about “people questioning the fabric of who you are.”
Harris, whose mother is of Indian descent and whose father is Jamaican, seemed unfazed.
“I'm really clear about who I am and if anybody else is not, they need to go through their own level of therapy, that's not my issue,” she said.
Meanwhile, Harris is ahead of Trump by three percentage points according to Monday’s New York Times's average of national polls that show the race is still tight in the seven key battleground states.
