Does Kamala Harris want to legalize weed? Here's where she stands on marijuana legislation

Marijuana is on the ballot in four states this Election Day and voters may be looking to understand how the presidential candidates feel about its potential legalization.

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, whose aggressive prosecution of weed-related crimes in the past has stirred discussion, has taken a more progressive approach to marijuana legislation since her involvement in federal politics.

This year, voters in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida will see marijuana on their ballots. Specifically, ballot measures related to recreational marijuana will be on the table in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota, and medical marijuana will be on the Nebraska ballot. And in Massachusetts, where medical and recreational marijuana is already legal, voters will be weighing in on the possibility of legalizing psychedelics.

But Americans in more than just these four states are talking about marijuana. In fact, 88% of adults in the U.S. think marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use, with 57% thinking marijuana should be legal for both purposes, according to a Pew Research Center study published in March.

In a post made to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Harris said that the Harris-Walz agenda supports the legalization of recreational marijuana.

"I will legalize recreational marijuana, break down unjust legal barriers and create opportunities for all Americans to succeed in this new industry," the post reads.

In a September interview on the podcast "ALL THE SMOKE," Harris said her stance on the legalization of marijuana has been one she'd had for a long time.

"I just feel strongly, people should not be going to jail for smoking weed, and we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail," Harris told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. "Second, I just feel think that we've come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior. Actually, this is not a new position for me. I have felt for a long time we need to legalize it."

As vice president, Harris supported Biden's federal pardon to every American who had used marijuana in the past, including individuals who were never arrested or prosecuted − passed in 2023. She also championed the reclassification of marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

In May, the Department of Justice, under the Biden administration, moved to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug, which Harris supported.

Currently, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, which are drugs defined as having "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse" by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD, ecstasy and methaqualone.

Schedule III drugs, on the other hand, are defined as having a "moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence." Examples are drugs containing less than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit, ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.

The DOJ has yet to finalize its decision on the matter.

Though Harris and her campaign have shown direct support for the legalization of recreational marijuana during campaigning, her stance on the drug hasn't always been so progressive.

Whiles serving as California's attorney general and San Francisco's district attorney, Harris prosecuted marijuana-related crimes.

As San Francisco's district attorney from 2004 to 2011, Harris' prosecutors convicted more than 1,900 people on cannabis-related offenses, according to PBS. And during her period as California's attorney general, more than 2,000 Californians were incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses, according to Reuters.

While running for attorney general in California − for her first term and then again for re-election − Harris opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana.

“There is a whole concern about how we would detect to determine impairment for the purposes of legal or illegal driving," Harris said about the legalization of recreational marijuana in California in 2016, per the Sacramento Bee. "Those are real details and I take seriously when weighing in on a subject such as (this) that we have thought through the details.”

Harris' stance on marijuana appears to have changed when she became a U.S. Senator in 2017.

During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris proposed legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, in addition to expunging marijuana-based convictions, providing services to individually negatively impacted by the "War on Drugs," providing funding to states and local entities to fund small marijuana business and funding programs to minimize marijuana licensing and employment barriers.

Perhaps one of Harris' most popular comments on marijuana is when she said in a 2019 interview on radio show, "The Breakfast Club," that she had smoked marijuana.

"I did inhale," Harris said. "It was a long time ago but yes." The comment was a reference to former President Bill Clinton's line that he "didn't inhale" from his 1992 presidential run.

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.