Senator Kamala Harris Is Our Greatest Weed Advocate Right Now

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recently announced his plans to ratchet up the war on drugs. In response, law enforcement authorities and politicians on both sides of the aisle have harshly criticized the new proposal. And some of the harshest comes from Sen Kamala Harris (D-CA).

At a conference hosted by the influential Center for American Progress, Harris lambasted Trump administration drug policies. She also reasserted her support for progressive marijuana legislation. Senator Kamala Harris is a fearless, outspoken advocate of ending the prohibition on cannabis.

Indeed, her recent comments and her willingness to stand up to an anti-pot Trump administration make Senator Kamala Harris our greatest weed advocate right now.

Kamala Harris Won’t Let Them Take Grandma’s Weed

The Ideas Conference was put on by the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress. It was a chance for influential policymakers to share ideas for progressive reform in the United States. And while many of the Democratic lawmakers in attendance were focused on the scandal-of-the-day, Sen. Kamala Harris stood out for focusing on the Trump administration’s new criminal justice policies.

First, Harris set her sights on Attorney General Jeff Session’s new order that federal prosecutors should try to convict suspects for the “most serious, readily provable offense.” The idea is to issue the harshest criminal penalties possible for drug crimes someone commits. Critics claim that the dictate is a spark trying to reignite the failed war on drugs.

Sessions is also shaking his stick at states that have already legalized adult recreational use. In other words, Sessions is threatening to go after marijuana offenses even where weed is legal, like California. Because federal law still prohibits cannabis as a “Schedule I” narcotic, that’s something Sessions could actually do.

However, Kamala Harris is having none of it. She knows what experts have repeatedly documented. That the war on drugs failed to stem drug use and addiction, but wildly succeeded at locking up a massive amount of people, disproportionately black and brown folks, for nonviolent drug offenses.

Sen. Kamala Harris thinks federal authorities’ time would be better spent hunting down real threats to security and stopping human trafficking, a major problem in California. At the Ideas Conference on Tuesday, Harris offered her sharp rebuke to Sessions.

“Let me tell you what California needs, Jeff Sessions. We need support in dealing with transnational criminal organizations and dealing with human trafficking — not going after Grandma’s medicinal marijuana.”

Kamala Harris Is Our Greatest Ally In The Fight To End Prohibition

If federal prohibition is ever going to be a thing of the past, we’re going to need courageous Senators like California’s Kamala Harris fighting on our side.

Harris would rather the government direct its attention toward ending drug abuse, not breathing new life in the war on drug abusers. She spoke movingly about the need to combat the nation’s terrible opioid epidemic. Furthermore, her experience as a career prosecutor has shown her all she needs to know that Sessions’ policies are wrong.

“I saw the war on drugs up close, and let me tell you, the war on drugs was an abject failure.”

For this reason, Harris wants to end the days where marijuana use and possession is a crime. For her, decriminalization is the right thing to do. Even more, she’s called it an “American issue” that transcends race and political differences.

In the end, Harris isn’t the only Senator with hopes of ending the war on weed. Fortunately, she has bipartisan support in Congress from Republicans and fellow Democrats. Only a strength-in-numbers approach will be enough to push back against Sessions’ harsh new policies.