This election could prove to be an important step toward ending the federal ban on marijuana
NEW DELHI: The US presidential election is just a few weeks away. Both candidates and voters are busy preparing for the final phase. During the recent presidential debate in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump expressed their opinions on several issues, but there was no debate between the two on legalizing marijuana.
Despite differing opinions on many topics, this is one issue on which the two candidates seem to have similar views. The election could be important for the prospects of making changes to the 100-year-old federal ban on the use of marijuana. Today, 24 US states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana and taxed its sale at the same rate as alcohol.
Apart from this, 7 states have abolished prison terms for possession of small amounts of marijuana. A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws for its medical use. Kamala Harris is changing her stance on legalizing marijuana. In 2019, he introduced a bill in the Senate to end the federal decriminalization of marijuana. However, there was a time when she was against it.
During her 2010 run for California Attorney General, she opposed its legalization. But as a presidential candidate in 2019, she endorsed it and admitted to consuming it herself. He has called for amnesty for people who have been sent to prison for using marijuana. Donald Trump's stance on the legalization of marijuana has always been ambiguous.
As President he never openly supported or opposed. However, he recently spoke about voting in Florida in support of legalizing marijuana. “It's time we end the wasteful process of sending people to prison for minor cases of marijuana,” he wrote on Twitter. He also said that if elected president, he would promote research into the medical use of marijuana and classify it as a 'Schedule 3' drug.
