“No one should go to jail for smoking weed,” the vice president said.

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.

  • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
    31·
    8 months ago

    You want a President to take actions that he’s legally not allowed to take.

    So no, not everyone.

    But you? Absolutely.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      You want a President to take actions that he’s legally not allowed to take.

      Schumer thinks he can take those actions. Is Chuck Schumer a Russian Chinese Trumpist tankie shill bot child too?

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
        22·
        8 months ago

        No, he’s just a politician. He wrote a letter to the DEA, which has ultimate authority over the drugs scheduling. While the DEA is part of the Biden administration, there are limits to what Biden can do. He can pressure them, but going beyond that is pushing the law.

        Schumer is trying to pressure the DEA, and trying to pressure Biden into pressuring the DEA. But that’s all they can do, whip up public opinion.

        Not to mention the politics of endorsing a statement they know will go nowhere, but their voters don’t. Politicians do it all the time.