Pubdate: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2015 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1 Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: Carla Marinucci HARRIS NOT OPPOSED TO MAKING POT LEGAL California Attorney General Kamala Harris, the state's top cop and Democratic front-runner in the race for a U.S. Senate seat next year, said Thursday she has "no moral objection" to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, but cautioned that special care will be required to assess the impacts on children and public safety. "It's easy to stand up and make a grand gesture, but we really do have to work out the details," said Harris, who told The Chronicle on Wednesday that she believes "it is an inevitability" that recreational use of marijuana will be legalized in the state. "But to be very clear, it's not a passive position," Harris said, adding that as the state's senior law enforcement official, she has already been studying the impacts in Colorado and Washington state, where recreational use is legal. It becomes legal in Oregon later this year. "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," she said. California will need to "figure out the important issues" related to legalization, especially "as it relates to children, as it relates to schools and advertising and the quantities ... and issues like safe driving and enforcement of our rules around that," as well as about the impacts of edible marijuana, she said. "That's where I'm focused, on all the details of that." Her personal views on the drug: "I don't have any moral opposition to legalization," she said. "But I do feel a very strong sense of responsibility as a top cop to pay attention to the details ... to make sure that if it were legalized ... that vulnerable people are safe," she said. Harris' statements were her first to address a potential campaign issue since declaring herself a candidate to fill the seat of Sen. Barbara Boxer, who announced last month that she would not run for re-election. The California attorney general has been criticized lately for brushing off questions about the race to replace Boxer. Last week, at an event at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, an aide physically tried to block a Chronicle reporter from asking questions, but Harris intervened and promised to speak soon to reporters about her campaign. The interview came on the same day that the Field Poll released a new survey showing she is the first choice among Democrats to replace Boxer, though Republican Condoleezza Rice was the top choice of Californians of both parties. Democratic former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is widely expected to enter the race soon. Others whose names have been mentioned as possible competitors include U.S. Reps. Loretta Sanchez of Santa Ana, John Garamendi of Walnut Grove (Sacramento County) and Jackie Speier of Hillsborough. Rep. Rocky Chavez, a Southern California Republican, this week indicated he may also be interested in running. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom