Kamala Harris or Donald Trump: what future for cannabis legalization in the United States?

President Joe Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race in a letter posted on his X account on Sunday.

«It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve you as president,» Mr. Biden wrote in his letter. «And although I had intended to run for re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country that I step aside and focus solely on my duties as president until the end of my term.».

What about the legalization of cannabis? In mid-May, President Biden asked the federal agencies to review the classification of cannabis, with the aim of reclassifying it from Schedule I to Schedule III of the list of controlled substances—a category that would make it easier to access, particularly for research purposes, and would better reflect the actual level of danger posed by cannabis.

This decision follows numerous public statements by Biden on cannabis, including his State of the Union address, in which he stated that no one should be imprisoned for cannabis possession.

With this significant step forward, supporters of legalization may be wondering what the next step will be.

«President Biden has taken historic steps to end the federal ban on cannabis, including by initiating the process to reclassify cannabis to Schedule III and by pardoning thousands of convicted Americans for nonviolent cannabis-related offenses. »We look forward to the current administration finalizing the reclassification process, and we hope the next nominee will support the formal end of the federal ban on cannabis,” said David Culver, senior vice president of public affairs at the American Cannabis Council.

With Biden's departure, Vice President Kamala Harris is well-positioned to take over. She has carried out a a complete about-face on the issue of cannabis legalization ever since her time as a district attorney in California, when she was responsible for enforcing the criminalization of cannabis.

On numerous occasions, particularly over the past year, Ms. Harris has described the current classification of cannabis—which is treated as equivalent to heroin and considered more dangerous than fentanyl—as 'absurd» and »blatantly unfair.«.

During a recent episode of *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*, Kamala Harris took the opportunity to reaffirm its new position, namely that cannabis users should not be sentenced to prison.

«I think we both agree that people shouldn’t go to prison for smoking marijuana. And we’ve pardoned a number of people,» said the vice president.

In the same interview, Mr. Harris also addressed the theory that cannabis is a gateway drug, which has been widely refuted.

Is cannabis legalization in good hands if Vice President Harris ends up sitting at the biggest table in the West Wing? Certainly more so than it was under Trump, at any rate.

In April of last year, he stated at a meeting of the National Rifle Association that the surge in mass shootings across the country was «not a gun problem,» but rather that «genetically modified» cannabis and the transgender community might be to blame and should therefore be investigated.

But as Don Murphy, founder of the’American Cannabis Collective, who attended the Republican National Convention last week, said, «I can’t see Donald Trump sticking it to 80% Americans.» who now have legal access to cannabis.

As is often the case with Trump, his position is therefore unclear.