Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday pledged to legalize cannabis nationwide if she is elected, saying she would work to ensure that legal “recreational marijuana is the law of the land.” Harris made the pledge as part of an agenda for Black men, a group of voters that her campaign is actively courting for support in her contest against GOP nominee Donald Trump.
The Harris campaign released a plan to support Black men and their families in several ways, including proposals for a new National Health Equity Initiative and a program to offer forgivable small business loans. The plan adds that if she is elected, the vice president 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.”
“She will also fight to ensure that as the national cannabis industry takes shape, Black men—who have, for years, been overpoliced for marijuana use—are able to access wealth and jobs in this new market,” the plan continues.
Harris’ Opportunity Agenda for Black Men notes that when he was president, Trump’s administration “threatened federal prosecutions for marijuana in states where marijuana use is legal, continuing the unjust and disproportionate use of marijuana possession laws to put Black Americans behind bars.”
Former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, a co-chair of the Harris campaign, said her announcement is part of her “Opportunity Economy” proposal– “an economy where people don’t just get by, but get ahead. Where Black men are equipped with the tools to thrive: to buy a home, provide for our families, start a business and build wealth,” he said in a statement, NPR reported on Monday.
Harris Campaign Seeks To Shore Up Support Among Black Voters
The Harris campaign’s new plan comes as the Harris campaign is working to shore up support among Black men. Many pundits see the voting block as crucial to the vice president’s chances of success in November, but support for the Democratic ticket among Black voters has seemingly slipped since the last election.
A New York Times/Sienna College poll released over the weekend indicates that Harris is leading among Black voters nationwide over Trump by an impressive 78%-15% margin. In 2020, however, 90% of Black voters marked their ballots for President Joseph Biden.
Last week, former President Barack Obama reached out to Black men while campaigning for Harris, urging them to turn out to vote. He compared enthusiasm for Harris to his 2008 campaign when he was elected to be the nation’s first Black president.
“My understanding, based on reports I'm getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” he said, according to an October 10 report from NPR.
That lack of enthusiasm for the vice president, he added, “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.” He continued by criticizing those planning to vote for Trump or not vote at all.
“And you are thinking about sitting out?” he said. “Part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
After Obama made his remarks, the Black Men for Trump Advisory Board issued a statement, calling the former president’s words “deeply insulting.”
“Black Americans are not a monolith, and we don’t owe our votes to any candidate just because they ‘look like us,’” the group said in a statement. “It’s demeaning to suggest that we can’t evaluate a candidate’s track record — especially when Kamala Harris has done more harm than good to Black communities.”
Trump has also expressed support for cannabis policy reform during this year’s presidential campaign. Last month, the Republican nominee indicated his support for rescheduling cannabis under federal drug laws and said a second Trump administration would back a proposal to give regulated cannabis companies easier access to banking services. Additionally, he has suggested he backs Amendment 3, a ballot measure to legalize cannabis for adults in his adopted home state of Florida.
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