Kamala Harris Puts Marijuana Legalization On Presidential ‘To-Do List’ Alongside Border Security, Reproductive Rights And More

Legalizing marijuana is one of the top items on Vice President Kamala Harris’s “to-do list” if she wins the presidential election next month, the Democratic nominee says.

On Thursday, Harris shared a list of 14 priorities on X, placing cannabis reform alongside other major initiatives such as enhancing border security, preserving reproductive rights, expanding healthcare, investing in clean energy and more.

“Legalize recreational marijuana,” the item, which appears sixth on the list, says.

Harris said that while her opponent in the race, former President Donald Trump, has “an enemies list,” she has “a to-do list” she wants to bring to the White House.

This comes just weeks after the vice president first pledged to federally legalize marijuana since becoming the party’s nominee, promising that access to cannabis will become “the law of the land.”

If elected, she 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 Harris campaign said.

Trump has an enemies list.

I have a to-do list. pic.twitter.com/rdifXb95Dy

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 24, 2024

Also, last month, Harris made clear she still supports legalizing cannabis, which she previously pushed for as a senator but had not publicly discussed since becoming President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.

Separately, she also recently said that part of the reason for the delay in the administration’s current marijuana rescheduling effort is federal bureaucracy that “slows things down,” including at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), has also been talking cannabis policy on the campaign trail. Last week, for example, he stressed that marijuana legalization must be coupled with policies that give those who’ve been disproportionately targeted by criminalization “the first shot to make money” in the legal cannabis industry.

While Harris and Walz are aligned in their belief that prohibition should be replaced with a system of legalization and regulation, the governor has largely focused on the rights of states to set their own cannabis laws, rather than weigh in on federal legalization prospects.

On the other ticket heading into next month’s election, Trump, the GOP nominee, has backed a Florida marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the ballot, as well as cannabis banking reform and rescheduling.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), has voiced support for letting states decide on their own marijuana policies, though he’s also said they should increase enforcement activities and complained about the smell of cannabis multiple times. Additionally, he’s repeatedly sounded the alarm about fentanyl-laced marijuana, though he more recently conceded that the issue isn’t widespread.

The Harris–Walz campaign, meanwhile, has accused Trump of lying about his support for marijuana reform—arguing that his “blatant pandering” runs counter to his administration’s record on cannabis.

Following Trump’s recent announcement of support for the Florida cannabis legalization ballot measure, the Democratic campaign has been working to communicate to voters that, while in office, Trump “took marijuana reform backwards.”

Also, on Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said Harris’s support for marijuana legalization is part of the nominee’s “freedom agenda.” He made the remarks at an event hosted by musician and marijuana icon Willie Nelson on Thursday.

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