Kamala Harris ‘Didn’t Want To Talk About Marijuana Legalization’ With Joe Rogan, Podcaster Says Of Interview That Never Happened

Vice President Kamala Harris “didn’t want to talk about marijuana legalization” when she was invited—and ultimately declined—to participate an interview with Joe Rogan ahead of the election, the podcaster says.

The Democratic presidential nominee, who ultimately lost the election to former President Donald Trump, never ended up joining Rogan for the interview. Asked about it on an episode that aired on Tuesday, Rogan said the Harris campaign “had requirements on things that she didn’t want to talk about” that factored into that decision.

“She didn’t want to talk about marijuana legalization, which I thought was hilarious,” said Rogan, who endorsed Trump on the eve of Election Day last week, days after interviewing the GOP nominee.

Comedian Adrienne Iapalucci asked Rogan why Harris wouldn’t want to talk about marijuana. After all, Harris had reaffirmed her support for cannabis legalization on the campaign trail, sponsored a bill to end federal prohibition during her time in the Senate and would presumably benefit from highlighting her advocacy for the bipartisan issue in the run-up to the election.

[embedded content]

The campaign’s contention, Rogan said, was “because of her prosecuting record” in California. Harris has faced criticism over her role as a San Francisco district attorney and state attorney general, with opponents frequently pointing to data on cannabis arrests that took place under her leadership.

“She put a lot of people in jail for weed—1,500 apparently,” the podcaster said.

Trump had also gone after Harris over her prosecutorial record on marijuana, claiming that she put “thousands and thousands of Black people in jail” for cannabis offenses—but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.

Data from the San Francisco District Attorney’s office that was featured in an investigative report from the Bay Area News Group showed that there were 1,956 convictions for misdemeanor and felony marijuana offenses from 2004 and 2010 when Harris led the office. But the number of people who were actually sent to state prison was 45. That said, it’s unclear how many people were sent to county jail, so the total figure may be higher.

Marijuana Moment reached out to the Harris campaign about Rogan’s claims about the reasoning for her declining the interview, but a representative was not immediately available. Rogan had also publicly discussed that he was intent on having Harris partake in the conversation at his studio in Texas, and he declined an opportunity to have the conversation at a different location offered by the campaign.

Rogan did interview Trump—as well as Vice President-elect JD Vance—ahead of the election. He didn’t address cannabis policy issues with Trump, but he did discuss marijuana and psychedelics policy with Vance.

Vance said in his interview that he’s “fascinated” by the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, and he asked Rogan for advice on a creating a possible “pathway” for providing access to substances such as MDMA and psilocybin for military veterans with serious mental health conditions.

In any case, the podcaster’s claim that Harris was specifically uninterested in talking about marijuana legalization is somewhat difficult to square. The vice president was notably more vocal about her support for the reform in the weeks leading up to the election compared to Trump, who did voice support for a Florida cannabis legalization ballot measure that ultimately failed but who limited his federal platform on marijuana to backing industry banking access and rescheduling.

Trump’s Florida endorsement evidently failed to convince his voters to get on board, according to new poll showing that a vast majority of opposition to legalizing cannabis in the Sunshine State came from his supporters.

On the national stage, the question for advocates and stakeholders is what it means to have Trump retake the Oval Office.

Whether that stated support will translate into action on reform legislation after Trump takes office in January is uncertain. Republicans have reclaimed a majority in the Senate, and the political composition of the House is still to be determined. The president’s power to unilaterally change federal marijuana laws is limited, and GOP congressional lawmakers have historically resisted cannabis reform.

Federally Approved Research Marijuana Is ‘Very Similar’ To What’s On Commercial Markets, Study Says, But Other Scientists Aren’t So Sure

Photo courtesy of JRE Clips.