Kamala Harris, VP of the United States, claims that her administration has 'changed federal marijuana policy' while using an incorrect map of state legalization laws

In a video aimed at young voters, Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned the Biden Administration’s efforts to reform federal marijuana laws. However, her claim that these policies had already “changed” was premature. The video includes a map which purports that it highlights states that have legalized marijuana, but contains inaccurate information about jurisdictions that have ended criminalization.

Harris, in a video posted on X Friday, says: “We changed the federal marijuana policy because no one should be sent to prison for smoking weed.”

The President Joe Biden pardoned people who had committed federal cannabis crimes and began a review of the federal scheduling of marijuana. However, this clemency did not release anyone from prison and the drug remains in Schedule I pending Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) consideration of a Schedule III suggestion from health officials.

The vice president’s claim, that the federal marijuana policy had already been “changed”, to make sure that people don’t go to jail for cannabis, is exaggerated.

In 2020, the number of young voters who turned out to vote was unprecedented.

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Kamala Harris February 9, 2020 HTML0

The video Harris posted contains a map with major errors. It claims to show “places where marijuana is allowed for recreational and medical use.”

The color scheme on the map has been reversed, so that states that only allow medical marijuana are incorrectly shown as also allowing adult use. States that have both legalized forms of marijuana are shown as only allowing medical use.

It claims, for example, that Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, as well as Oklahoma Utah, have both adult-use and medical cannabis laws, when in reality, they only have medical marijuana.

The video of Harris is just the latest instance in which the government has been promoting its cannabis initiatives ahead of this year’s election.

The vice president, for example, said that Biden’s decision to pardon those who had committed federal marijuana possession crimes is an example of the administration’s commitment to Americans, especially young and Black voters, who may be crucial to the president’s reelection campaign.

Harris stated that “another issue is what we did to pardon thousands of people who were charged with simple marijuana possession in violation of federal law. Because, frankly, no one should be sent to prison for smoking pot.”

The Justice Department estimates 13,000 people were pardoned by the executive order. While Harris claimed “tens” of thousands had been pardoned, it is estimated that only a small number have actually been.

The pardons have been the subject of inflated rhetoric, and Biden has often exaggerated the effect by falsely claiming that people had been released from prison for marijuana possession or that criminal records had been expunged. A pardon is a formal forgiveness. No one who has received a pardon had been incarcerated for simple possession.

As many advocates have pointed out, there are still some people in federal prison for other non-violent marijuana crimes. They have pushed the Biden Administration to do more. This includes keeping his main cannabis campaign promise to decriminalize pot.

The Justice Department has requested White House approval for to update its data-collection process in relation to the marijuana pardon certificates it is issuing as part of the expanded clemency announcement by the President.

The administration wants to provide individuals with the opportunity to obtain a formal pardon if they so desire. The Justice Department opened the updated applications quickly and began issuing certificates.

The White House has taken very little action on marijuana reform to date. While Biden ran on decriminalization and Harris sponsored federal marijuana legislation during her tenure in the Senate.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has suggested moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of Controlled Substances Act. Now, it is up to the Drug Enforcement Administration to make the final decision.

Biden seems to be aware of the popularity of marijuana reform by promoting his pardon of all cannabis and review of scheduling. A recent poll shows that he will gain a lot of popularity if his directive on scheduling results in a federal law reclassification.

The study found that the impression that voters had of President increased by a net of 11 points when they heard about the potential implications of the rescheduling evaluation. This includes a favorable swing of 11 points among young voters aged 18-25, who are critical for his reelection campaign.