Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday hosted a roundtable with rapper Fat Joe, Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), and recipients of pardons from the Biden administration’s executive action on marijuana offenses.
“I have said many times: I believe — I think we all at this table believe — nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed,” Harris said. “What we need to do is recognize that far too many people have been sent to jail for simple marijuana possession.”
The vice president highlighted the disproportionately high rate at which Black Americans and Latinos are arrested for marijuana possession, and emphasized the need to address the injustices in federal marijuana policy.
“The impact is such that, in particular, Black Americans and Latinos are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession,” Harris said. “The disparity is even larger when you talk about the subset of Black men and Latino men. So, this is an issue that must be addressed.”
The administration in October 2022 pardoned some people with nonviolent federal marijuana convictions, and recommended that weed move from its more serious classification as a Schedule 1 drug.
