National legalization of marijuana is generally popular with Americans: 57% of respondents say marijuana should be legal for both medical and recreational purposes, while 32% say it should be legal for medical purposes only, according to a January study. Bench investigation. Only 11% of Americans believe it should not be legal at all. It’s an issue that presidents have largely ignored, but Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump talked about it during the 2024 campaign.

Here are the views they have expressed so far on marijuana legalization.

Trump on legalizing marijuana

Trump has not said he would support legalizing recreational weed nationwide. During his 2016 campaign, Trump suggested he favored leaving the issue unresolved. the states. In October 2015, Trump said that legalizing marijuana “should be a state issue, state by state.” As president, the Trump administration continued to enforce the federal ban on marijuana use.

As part of his 2021 budget, Trump proposed ending a federal policy protecting the nation’s medical marijuana programs from intervention by the Justice Department.

Trump said he would vote to legalize recreational weed in Florida

Trump said in September that he would vote in favor of a ballot measure in Florida to legalize recreational marijuana use. Other Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, oppose the measure. The amendment would legalize recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and older, allowing people to consume up to about three ounces at a time.

“As I have stated before, I believe it is time to end the unnecessary arrests and incarceration of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, TruthSocial. “As a Floridian, I will vote YES on Amendment 3 this November.”

Former first lady Melania Trump said she and the former president plan to vote in Florida on Election Day.

Trump has said he wants to continue research into the medical uses of marijuana.

Trump also said he wanted to continue research to “unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule III drug,” although the Drug Enforcement Agency announced earlier this year under President Biden that it would change marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which means fewer restrictions. Schedule I drugs are considered to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD.

Schedule III drugs, which include those used to suppress pain or appetite, have a lower risk of abuse, but their use could lead to psychological dependence. This category includes for example ketamine, lower doses of opioid painkillers and anabolic steroids.

“As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana as a Schedule III drug, and work with Congress to pass common-sense laws, including operational secure banking for state-licensed businesses, and supporting the right of states to pass marijuana laws, like Florida, that work so well for their citizens,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in September.

Where does Kamala Harris stand on marijuana legalization?

Harris has not made legalizing marijuana a central theme of her campaign, but she has said the drug should no longer be criminalized. Harris said she believes “people shouldn’t go to jail for smoking weed.”

“I just think we’ve gotten to a point where we have to understand that we have to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris said during an interview on the sports and culture podcast “All the Smoke.”

Harris prosecuted marijuana cases as a prosecutor

But after being elected San Francisco’s district attorney in 2002, Harris prosecuted marijuana offenses while the drug was still illegal in the Golden State. And his prosecution of marijuana crimes, including his prosecutions of men of color, have been criticized by some voters.

As attorney general of California, a position to which she was elected in 2010, Harris opposite allow the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Recreational marijuana was not legalized in California until 2016.

Harris’ views on marijuana as a U.S. senator

As a U.S. senator able to shape the law instead of a prosecutor forced to follow existing law, her approach to marijuana began to change.

In 2015, while running for U.S. Senate, she told the San Francisco Chronicle that she had “no moral objection” to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

And in 2019, while running for president, Harris introduced a bill to legalize marijuana and expunge non-violent weed offenses.