WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Vice President Kamala Harris held the White House’s first public event on marijuana reform on Friday.
“Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed,” Harris said.
The vice president was joined by Grammy-nominated artist and philanthropist Fat Joe, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and people who received pardons for prior marijuana convictions to discuss the reclassification of marijuana under the federal drug schedule.
“On the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair,” Harris said.
Harris highlighted several actions the Biden administration has taken to “advance long-overdue criminal justice reforms” during brief remarks on Friday.
She emphasized how cannabis laws have disproportionately impacted people of color.
“What we need to do is recognize that far too many people have been sent to jail for simple marijuana possession and the impact is such that, in particular, Black Americans and Latinos are four times more likely, four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession,” Harris said.
President Joe Biden discussed cannabis reform during his State of the Union address last week, saying “no one should be jailed for simply using.”
