[Applause] with the vice presidential nod senator kamala harris's track record prosecuting marijuana cases is once again under scrutiny a new report suggests there is more to harris and marijuana than many know i think her evolution on the views sort of mirror what's going on in our country in may 2018 harris announced she changed her mind now supporting the legalization of marijuana she previously opposed legalization efforts in california i am absolutely in favor of legalizing marijuana we've got to do it we've been we have incarcerated so many in particular young men and young men of color
um in a way that we have not for the same level of use other young men she has even spoken openly about her own marijuana use have you ever smoked i have okay and i inhaled i didn't i did it it was a long time ago at the time those comments sparked pushback saying she admitted to smoking weed before locking people up for it she put over 1500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana here are the facts according to data obtained by
the bay area news group harris oversaw roughly 1900 marijuana convictions in san francisco during her time as the city's district attorney six percent more than her predecessor but attorneys familiar with the cases tell the news group that a majority of the defendants arrested for low-level pot possession were never locked up i have had concerns the full record i have had concerns which i think must first of all let me just make the statement very clear i believe we need to legalize marijuana black people are almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession
than whites harris a woman of color says she recognizes that and acknowledges her own views have changed kellen howell newsy washington
