Kamala Harris Calls For Marijuana To Be Rescheduled 'As Quickly As Possible'

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called on the federal government to move “as quickly as possible” to change the way it officially classifies marijuana, saying that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”

“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible,” Harris said. “We need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment. This issue is stark when one considers the fact that on the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin ― as dangerous as heroin ― and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair.”

Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration. That classification designates it one of the most dangerous drugs possible, with no medicinal uses. Other substances in the same category include heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Marijuana advocates have been pushing for years for the federal government to either reschedule marijuana to a different category or deschedule it entirely.

Harris was speaking at a meeting at the White House with people who received pardons from President Joe Biden for marijuana-related offenses. Rapper Fat Joe, aka Joseph Cartagena, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) were also in attendance.

Biden issued mass pardons to thousands of people convicted of low-level marijuana offenses in October 2022 and again in December 2023. Upon announcing the 2022 pardons, the president also ordered Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to begin the process of rescheduling marijuana.

Becerra announced that his agency had completed its review of the health dangers of marijuana and recommended that the DEA reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 3 drug.