California attorney general Kamala Harris, who recently announced a run to replace outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) next year, said Wednesday that she is “not morally opposed” to marijuana legalization in the state, calling it “an inevitability.”
Harris, the first Democrat to announce a bid for Boxer’s Senate seat, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she is currently studying the drug’s legalization in Colorado and Oregon in order to be able to “work out the details.”
“It’s easy to stand up and make a grand gesture, but we really do have to work out the details,” Harris told the paper. “But to be very clear, it’s not a passive position…I’m actually in constant communication with Washington and Oregon to watch what they are doing and to explore all of the options, to make sure we do this in a way that takes advantage of learning from their mistakes.”
Harris said the details that need to be worked out include those related to child safety, schools, and advertising, as well as safe driving and the impact of edible marijuana.
Still, Harris said, “I don’t have any moral opposition to legalization.”
Harris is the first of several elected officials across the state who have floated their names for Boxer’s Senate seat. Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is widely expected to announce a run.
On the Republican side, Assemblyman Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside) signaled an interest in running for the seat this week, while former chair of the California Republican Party, Tom Del Beccaro, previously announced plans to explore a run.
According to a recent Field Poll, Condoleezza Rice, the former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, is the early front-runner among all contenders for Boxer’s seat with 49% of the vote.
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