Vice President Kamala Harris is running for President as a Democrat with Tim Walz of Minnesota as her VP for the Harris/Walz 2024 ticket while the national cannabis legalization process is ongoing.
Harris announced Governor Tim Walz as her Vice-Presidential choice today. Minnesota has a full cannabis market in place, which Walz has supported while in office. The Harris/Walz 2024 ticket should thus be running on national cannabis legalization.
A Harris/Walz Administration is more likely to advance national cannabis policy far more than the Biden/Harris Administration has done so far and could have been expected to do.
Recently, President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek a second term in office as the Democratic Party nominee in a letter published on social media. Later that day, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s nominee to be President of the United States.
It had become apparent to everyone that Biden was too old, and many had called for him to not run again.
The day after his announcement was the last day of the federal register comment period on the proposal to move marijuana from an illegal Schedule I narcotic to Schedule III, the class of many pharmaceutical drugs.
Kamala Harris and National Cannabis Legalization
Kamala Harris is definitely more in favor of national cannabis legalization than Biden ever was. She was one of the authors of the MORE Act, which would have legalized cannabis nationally, while a Democratic Senator from California during former President and current Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump’s first term.
Prior to that Kamala Harris was the California Attorney General.
“Biden has always this stance… where he was initially against cannabis,” Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) President and Simply Pure Trenton Dispensary CEO Tahir Johnson noted.
Biden, while a Democratic Senator from Delaware, was the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair and a leader of the War on Drugs in the 1980s.
He seems only to have become pro-cannabis in the wake of overwhelming support for national cannabis legalization. Many cannabis advocates have argued he has done the bare minimum to sway pro-cannabis voters.
In addition, Harris’ initial position as the District Attorney (DA) of San Francisco dimmed her in the eyes of many progressives and social justice advocates. Johnson noted that as DA, she prosecuted marijuana-related crimes.
Nonetheless, “If we get her as President, that would be the most progressive person on cannabis with that track record we’ve seen,” he said.
“One of the issues she has distinguished herself on is cannabis,” NORML cannabis legalization advocate and Heady NJ guest writer Chris Goldstein of South Jersey said.
Harris/Walz 2024
He said Harris could push descheduling where marijuana is taken off the list of controlled substances. This would allow state laws to go forward without some of the national legalization issues that remain.
So Goldstein is optimistic that advocating for descheduling to Kamala Harris is a successful strategy going forward to push for national cannabis legalization.
“The Kamala Harris Administration would take that move while the Biden administration would not,” he noted.
Like others, Goldstein is optimistic she could win the Presidency. She certainly has energized the Democratic base of younger people, minorities, and women. He was present earlier this year at a meeting held in the White House on the national cannabis legalization process. During the meeting, she embraced the overall goal.
Federal Comment Period and Rescheduling Versus Descheduling
In 2022, Biden announced he would free federal cannabis prisoners convicted of misdemeanors, which turned out to be a smaller number than those in state prison. Notably, he also announced that he would launch the process to move marijuana from a Schedule I narcotic to a more legal class.
Moving marijuana to Schedule III was announced as the official position of the Biden Administration earlier this year in May 2024 after the US. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recommended it in April 2024.
Johnson noted the Schedule III support while most want descheduling in reality.
“It’s not what the people want. But it’s better than we have right now,” he noted.
Johnson added it would give more cover to medical cannabis and allow more formal research.
National Cannabis Legalization and the Industry
Talk of how national cannabis legalization and its details and how it would impact the cannabis industry has been a hot topic at conferences and throughout the community and industry all year.
Johnson noted that licensed cannabis dispensaries cannot deduct their expenses from their taxes, which makes it very difficult for small businesspeople. Schedule III would change that Section 280-E of the IRS Tax Code to allow that.
The catch is the large corporate Multi-State Operators (MSOs) would benefit too.
Johnson noted the fear of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma corporations entering the cannabis industry at the expense of locals, minorities, women, veterans, and underground legacy to legal operators with Schedule III Rescheduling. But he said that could happen with descheduling as well.
Schedule III might have many barriers to entry that they are used to overcoming.
He noted that many of the large corporate MSOs also like descheduling.
Johnson said Amazon has spent millions on national cannabis legalization since they likely want to enter the market.
“Weed to our doorstep in an hour. I hate that. I don’t want that at all,” he said.
“There are no whole plants in Schedule III. States do not regular Schedule III substances for over-the-counter sales,” Goldstein said.
He argued that Schedule III is a terrible fantasy being sold to the public.
“Are you going to put tobacco in Schedule III? It will not fit,” Goldstein argued.
New Jersey’s Position on Schedule III
Like many others, he is eager for descheduling. Goldstein noted that New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin commented in favor of Schedule III.
He also explained he advocated to NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) Executive Director Chris Riggs they should comment in favor of descheduling. He said Riggs told him that they would. However, the NJCRC has confirmed to him they have.
Goldstein said that pushing for descheduling is a good idea. However, the DEA is likely to oppose it and end the process. They have in the past more than once.
He said that Schedule III would give cannabis companies many difficult policy regulations to follow.
Anthony Minniti is an independent pharmacy owner and pharmacist by trade who opened the Camden Apothecary, a dispensary in the City of Camden. He has noted on LinkedIn and on a podcast it would likely hurt the state-legal cannabis market and how they operate in favor of Big Pharma and similar large corporations.
Fighting the Good Fight for Descheduling
United for Marijuana Decriminalization is the official campaign coalition pushing for descheduling, Goldstein said. The MCBA is a member, along with the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), which has New Jersey members, among other social justice organizations like the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). The DPA was an early leader of the New Jersey cannabis legalization movement.
He noted the public comment period ended recently, and many of the commenters were pro-cannabis. In fact, 57 percent were in favor of descheduling according to a survey done by the firm Headset and reported in Ganjapreneur.
Trump had a decent record on the legalization of hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill and pardoning longtime marijuana prisoners. However, his first Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, was against state cannabis legalization and almost shut down the legal markets. Trump has not commented extensively on the issue recently.
Notably, Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, has been pro-cannabis and pro-Trump for some time.
Thus, national cannabis legalization has bipartisan support, which should be noted. In 2008, libertarian Republican Party candidate Ron Paul and, in 2016, the very progressive socialist Democrat Bernie Sanders endorsed national cannabis legalization while running for President.
