Kamala Harris praised for talking about smoking a joint: 'Her approval just went up'

Lauren Holter

Sen. Kamala Harris publicly took a stand in favor of legalizing marijuana in a radio interview on Monday — and her reasoning caught people’s attention.

Kamala Harris was the first 2020 candidate to admit that she has smoked marijuana. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kamala Harris was the first 2020 candidate to admit that she has smoked marijuana. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“I think that it gives a lot of people joy,” the presidential candidate told “The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne Tha God. “And we need more joy.”

Harris explained that half her family is from Jamaica and also talked about smoking a joint in college. She seemingly threw shade at former President Bill Clinton by saying she “did inhale,” alluding to Clinton’s infamous denial that he “didn’t inhale” when smoking marijuana.

“It was a long time ago,” she said. “I just broke loose.”

People on Twitter praised Harris’s candor, while political analysts noted that she was the first 2020 candidate to openly talk about her own experience smoking.

However, not everyone was thrilled by Harris’s response.

Harris also called for legalizing marijuana in her recently released memoir, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.

“We need to legalize marijuana and regulate it,” Harris wrote, according to Forbes. “And we need to expunge nonviolent marijuana-related offenses from the records of millions of people who have been arrested and incarcerated so they can get on with their lives.”

Harris’s career as a California prosecutor has been under scrutiny as she ramps up her presidential campaign. But the New York Times notes that she started programs in California that helped first-time drug offenders get a high school diploma and find work instead of going to prison.

Legalizing marijuana is expected to get more attention in the 2020 Democratic primary race than it has in past elections, and Harris is quickly making her stance crystal clear.

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