She co-sponsored a bill to fully legalize it in 2018. Behind closed doors she was advocating for legalizing it as VP, but Biden doesn't support full legalization so it would've been a bad look for him if his VP was publicly going against him when he was still running

VP debates usually don't move the needle much. I mean all most people remember from the Pence vs Harris debate was the fly on Mike Pence

If we want to move the needle, one thing we can do is take action ourselves

Find how to register to vote for where you are

Find opportunities to volunteer for dems around you and online

Write letters to voters in swing states or in competitive downballot races

Worth noting that what she said more than just hinting like the headline suggests. She's directly stating it should be legalized

"We have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior," Harris said on an episode of the "All the Smoke" podcast released on Monday

Also worth noting that as senator she also co-sponsored legalization in 2018 that would've fully legalized weed

And credit to Walz for succinctly calling it out. If he didn't, most of the news coverage would have glazed right passed it

Saw someone else reply with this to it and it kind of sent me a bit

Best line of the debate in my opinion

Hey now, Chickens can put up a fight when they need to and are smarter than people think. Can we really say the same about trump?

We can do more than just hope, we can help make it happen! Vote, get active, volunteer for texas democrats

We can fight back against some of their voter suppression tactics

If you know people in texas, make sure they are checking their voter registration and re-register if purged

The part that happened in May was the actual rule being formally proposed.

It [the formal rule proposal] is the next step in the rescheduling process begun by Biden in October 2022, and follows a recommendation by the Department of Health and Human Services in August to reclassify marijuana.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/16/biden-announces-marijuana-reclassification-00158408

He actually started the reschedule process in 2022, but before that there were attempts by dems to do legalization via legislation but in the senate that didn't end up getting enough votes.

Rescheduling via legislation is more direct and skips the lengthy process describe in the law for executive action. The president is not able to immediately snap their fingers and reschedule. People within the DEA / other agencies have showed it down since 2022. It's at the last stages now after the public comment hearing in December. For what it's worth, as VP Harris did try to call on the agencies to speed up said process but she has no direct power to do so

The existing law outlines the complicated process. Biden cannot do it instantly. Here's an overview of the process that's already been done so far

Now the rule has been proposed so we're at the end of that graph. That's what I mean when I say we're close. Here's the actual rule making procedure to do the rescheduling

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/29/2024-19370/schedules-of-controlled-substances-rescheduling-of-marijuana

Additionally, it's worth noting that earlier, dem senate leader was also perusing a legislative path until it was clear they couldn't get the votes. Hence later executive action

Decriminalization is not the same as legalization. In terms of legalization, he only supported legalization for medical marijuana which is the process he started. He actually pledged to move it to schedule 2 but has started the process to move it to schedule 3. That process is getting closer for what it's worth. The DEA has really dragged it out but it's nearly at the end with the public hearing in December

From the source that politico links to

he will support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes

[...]

reschedule cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.

Copying my comment from elsewhere

Decriminalization is not the same as legalization. In terms of legalization, he only supported legalization for medical marijuana which is the process he started. He actually pledged to move it to schedule 2 but has started the process to move it to schedule 3. That process is getting closer for what it's worth. The DEA has really dragged it out but it's nearly at the end with the public hearing in December

From the source that politico links to

he will support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes

[...]

reschedule cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.

Yep, get active, get involved, and volunteer. We don't have to just hope, we can be a part of making it happen

Whether that be for a union or a political campaign, they are won when we fight for them

However, unlike that Harris isn't making a cagey statement here. She's directly stating that marijuana should be federally legalized

Really the title of this article shouldn't be signals

He never explicitly said he would be a one term president or necessarily saw himself as one. I looked back to double check again, and he only made cagey statements about seeing himself as the transition between generations. A two term president could still qualify for that. The more explicit one term stuff was from his aides saying he was considering that

Should he have just been more direct, yes, but what he said was nothing as explicit as directly stating we need marijuana it to be legalized

Biden never said he supported full legalization as far as I am aware, so it's not surprising he didn't go as far as he could.

She just made the announcement for the first time in this campaign, so not stated that yet, but she has pushed for legalization via legislation in the past as a senator and called for faster action for the DEA on rescheduling as VP

In other areas, Walz and Harris have already given plans for passing legislation to make banking access easier for legal states and helping veterans get access to medical marijuana in the VA

So you're saying the expectation should be that she should be able to solve every problem without any direct power? Harris could only do more if she were president. The only people that can currently do anything on it are the president and congress.

Biden for his part started the process to move it to schedule 3 which would give medical legalization. Harris could start the process for full legalization if she were elected

Those stories were his aides saying he was considering he might not run again. He never said it publicly.

Here Harris is directly stating publicly she wants it legal federally. It's not a new stance for her. As a senator in 2018 she co-sponsored legislation to make it legal federally