Kamala Harris has promised the federal legalization of marijuana should she be elected president as part of her campaign’s newly unveiled “Opportunity Agenda”.
While the move is overtly targeting black male voters, it will also be viewed with more than passing interest by the weed industry.
Currently, there are piecemeal state-by-state approvals for the medicinal and recreational use of the drug; however, it remains a federal crime to possess it.
The current two-tier system has several negative consequences for the industry, the most difficult of which are banking and financing investments within the industry.
So, any change or clarification to laws at the federal level should have positive ramifications for weed growers and funders in the US and Canada.
Currently, the focus is on decriminalization and its societal impact. So, the Harris campaign said on Monday that, if elected this November, it will “break down unjust legal barriers that hold black men and other Americans back by legalizing marijuana nationally, working with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land.”
The campaign added that Harris will “fight to ensure that as the national cannabis industry takes shape, black men — who have, for years, been overpoliced for marijuana use — are able to access wealth and jobs in this new market.”
The pledge to legalize marijuana goes beyond the current Biden administration’s stance on the drug, which involves exploring rescheduling cannabis to a lower-risk drug and pardoning individuals convicted of marijuana possession.
No one should go to jail for smoking weed. pic.twitter.com/D932NCGmPP
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 15, 2024
Also part of Harris’ “Opportunity Agenda” is a proposal for forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for 1 million black entrepreneurs and better cryptocurrency regulations to protect Black men and others who invest in digital assets.
Harris will “make sure owners of and investors in digital assets benefit from a regulatory framework so that Black men and others who participate in this market are protected”, her campaign said.