Kamala Harris Says ‘We Need to Legalize and Stop Criminalizing’ Marijuana Use, Names 2Pac, Too Short as Best Bay Area Artists

Vice President and Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris held it down for the West Coast on the latest episode of the podcast All the Smoke.

Hosts and former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson joined Harris for the special episode, posted on Monday (Sept. 30). Around the 36-minute mark of the video below, Barnes and Jackson put Harris in the hot seat on her views around cannabis legalization, which she hadn't publicly spoken on until now.

In the past, Harris' stance on marijuana usage was conflicted, since during her time as a San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, she prosecuted marijuana-related offenses. Harris previously spoke against 2010 ballot Proposition 19 in California, meant to legalize recreational marijuana for those 21 years of age and older.

"I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed," Harris told Barnes and Jackson. "And we know historically what that is meant and who has gone to jail."

"Second," she continued. "I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior."

Harris added that this was "not a new position" for her and that she's felt this way "for a long time."

The conversation shifted to a more casual tone, with the three discussing Sunday family dinners, to which Harris invited Barnes and Jackson over for a plate. Jackson then asked Harris for her favorite Bay Area artists, and the V.P. named rapper Too Short, R&B musician Raphael Saddiq and the late 2Pac, who briefly lived in Oakland as a teen.

Harris has shown her hip-hop acumen for years, hosting a Hip-Hop 50 celebration at the White House last year, and sharing on The Breakfast Club in 2020 that she was an early fan of Snoop Dogg and 2Pac.