Although the framing is a transparent political ploy, it is reassuring to see that the vice president has not abandoned her opposition to the federal ban.

Kamala Harris, the first major-party presidential candidate to support repeal of the federal ban on marijuana, is presenting that step as part of her “agenda to give Black men the tools to build wealth and achieve financial freedom, lower costs for themselves and their families, and protect their rights.”

Whatever you think of that framing, which is a transparent ploy to lure African-American voters who might be tempted to vote for Donald Trump, it is reassuring that the vice president has not abandoned her advocacy of national legalization, which she backed as a California senator in 2018 and 2019.

Unlike President Joe Biden, who touted his “marijuana reform” but resisted the idea of descheduling cannabis, Harris promises to “legalize marijuana at the federal level to break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back.” That position also sets her apart from Trump, who has endorsed recreational legalization in Florida but has not said anything about resolving the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws.

Harris’ proposal is short on details, but it sounds like her legalization plan includes expungement of marijuana-related criminal records and “social equity” provisions that aim to assist would-be cannabis suppliers from communities disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs. Both of those were elements of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, a bill she introduced in 2019.

Read the full article at Reason.