Here's How Kamala Harris Plans to Advocate for People Prosecuted for Marijuana Possession
Senator Kamala Harris wants to explore expunging marijuana convictions nationally and make the growing cannabis business accessible.
She said she would make sure those who were previously incarcerated, convicted, or designated felons for marijuana convictions would be “first in line” for jobs in the industry.
The race to become the next president of the United States of America continues. For the latest installment of the Candidates Come to Cosmo series, senator and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris sat down with Cosmo’s editor-in-chief, Jessica Pels, to talk “revenge porn” (Harris wants to call it what it is: cyber exploitation), why her campaign is suffering from major layoffs, and her “limited loan forgiveness” plan for students struggling with massive amounts of debt. Before launching into her skincare routine, which is objectively more involved than candidates like Bernie Sanders’ and Pete Buttigieg’s, she also took a beat to respond to a couple of questions from Cosmo editors.
With so many candidates taking a more liberal stance in regard to marijuana possession and wiping prior convictions from records, I wanted to know more about how Senator Harris, who has been criticized for her career as a prosecutor, planned to ensure the booming marijuana industry isn’t accessible for just wealthy investors. I asked, “What do you plan to do to make sure that the industry isn’t just open for wealthy investors and is accessible and open for communities and people who have been hugely prosecuted for marijuana?”
Right off the bat, Harris stated that “one of America’s biggest modern shames is the system of mass incarceration that has led to the incarceration, in particular, of black and brown men and, in particular, fueled by that failed war on drugs.”
And in order to make sure the $50 billion industry is accessible to everyone, Harris said she’d “make sure that those folks who have been previously incarcerated, who have been convicted, who have been designated felons, one, that we deal with what we need to do around expungement but also that they be the first in line for those jobs.” She continued, “That they be the first in line for qualifying for the licenses to run these businesses, because it is something that, on its face, is so patently unfair and wrong.”
She wrapped up her relatively brief response by assuring the room that “it’s very much on my mind.”
Read the full exchange right here:
Shannon: Barbour: Hi. You said you’ve been in favor of legalizing marijuana.
Kamala Harris: Yeah.
Shannon Barbour: What do you plan to do to make sure that the industry isn’t just open for wealthy investors and is—
Kamala Harris: Great question.
Shannon Barbour: ...accessible and open for communities and people who have been hugely prosecuted for marijuana?
Kamala Harris: I agree. I agree with you completely. And that’s a very big part of my focus on when we legalize marijuana, how we need to do it. To your point, one of America’s biggest modern shames is the system of mass incarceration that has led to the incarceration, in particular, of black and brown men and, in particular, fueled by that failed war on drugs. Which is one of the reasons why I’m in favor of legalizing marijuana. And when we look at it, we’re now talking about in various states, including my home state of California, have legalized it. And this whole new industry—we can talk about the beauty industry, let’s talk about the marijuana industry. Let’s talk about CBD, right? All these products, right? That are all of a sudden going to relieve every problem I have, because I’m going to rub it all over my body, right?
And it’s a huge cash cow, this industry. People are making so much money off of selling weed. Meanwhile, generations of folks, in particular black and brown men, are felons for life for doing the same thing. On its face, this is wrong, unfair. It is a travesty.
So part of my plan for nationally legalizing marijuana is to make sure that those folks who have been previously incarcerated, who have been convicted, who have been designated felons, one, that we deal with what we need to do around expungement but also that they be the first in line for those jobs. That they be the first in line for qualifying for the licenses to run these businesses, because it is something that, on its face, is so patently unfair and wrong. So it’s a great point you’ve raised, and it’s very much on my mind. Thank you.
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