Vice President Kamal Harris wants thousands of criminal records expunged for people convicted of marijuana-related crimes, the Daily Mail reported. Harris hosted a roundtable discussion about the subject with rapper Fat Joe and others at the White House Friday.
With the 2024 presidential election on the horizon, Harris is likely attempting to address the issue to take the heat off of herself. As the San Francisco district attorney, Harris prosecuted such cases and put offenders behind bars.
She did the same while serving as the attorney general of California. This presents a problem when it comes to President Joe Biden's reelection, which is already an uphill climb.
As his running mate, Harris will have to walk back her law-and-order record to attract the youth and minority votes. This effort smacks of pandering, but it's necessary just the same.
The left has been attempting to have marijuana legalized for a long time. However, the issue got a boost during Friday's roundtable when Harris said that "nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed," Reuters reported.
The meeting included White House Director of Public Engagement Steve Benjamin, Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), Fat Joe, and others. The vice president said she believes that "far too many people have been sent to jail for simple marijuana possession" despite her own role in that outcome.
At least 40 states have moved to decriminalize marijuana, but it's still illegal at the federal level. Recently, the Biden administration has taken the step of lowering the federal classification level for marijuana.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommended the way the drug to be reclassified based on its potential for addiction. Rather than deeming it a Schedule I drug that is highly addictive like heroin, the HHS lowered it to a Schedule III.
"Marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair," Harris claimed. Biden has also softened his stance on marijuana in the name of racial equity, citing the disproportionate incarcerations for drug crimes for minorities.
This move comes because, as Time reported, young voters are demanding that Biden make some concessions or lose their votes. What was once a reliable voting bloc is now another group of voters disillusioned with the Biden presidency.
Some believe Democratic strategists are making the mistake of assuming those who don't want to see former President Donald Trump in the White House will vote for Biden by default. However, Gen-Z for Change Executive Director Elise Joshi warns that it's a foolish gamble.
"Youth are not thinking about this as Biden vs. Trump. They’re thinking about whether their issues are being met or dealt with," Joshi said.
"They need to be worried that this generation is not going to show up," she added. Perhaps Biden and Harris believe that legalizing weed is the one thing that will get them to the ballot box.
It's a sad state of affairs that the Democratic Party has moved beyond its usual monetary handouts and into the realm of legalizing pot. If Biden wins a second term, the country will be worse for it in many ways.
