In a move that pits him against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials, former president Donald Trump declared on Sunday that he would cast his ballot in favor of a Florida ballot initiative that would allow adult recreational marijuana usage.
It is time to stop adults being arrested and jailed for little amounts of marijuana for personal use, as I have said before. While ensuring adults have access to safe, tested products, we must also enact sensible regulations. By November, I will have cast my ballot in favor of Amendment 3 as a Floridian,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president went on to say, “As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug. We will work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies. And we will support states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens.”
Trump has made being perceived as strong on crime fundamental to his political character, while the move is in keeping with the criminal justice reform he signed into law as president. Even though some in his own party are against it, Trump is taking a stance that most Americans support.
In November, Trump and his opponent rarely found common ground on this issue. Vice President Kamala Harris has voiced her support for the Biden administration’s initiatives to reschedule marijuana as a lower-level substance and to pardon individuals convicted of possessing small amounts of the drug. Having been attacked for prosecuting individuals for possessing minor amounts of narcotics during her tenure as a prosecutor, Harris has her own political liabilities surrounding crime.
In a previous post, Trump expressed his belief that the Florida ballot issue would be approved “whether people like it or not,” and he also stated that individuals in the state shouldn’t be charged with possessing “personal amounts” of marijuana. Also, he demanded that the Florida legislature pass a bill making it illegal to smoke recreational marijuana in public places.
Trump has now promised to “unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug” following his endorsement of medical marijuana on last week’s Lex Fridman Podcast.
“Allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise,” states the ballot initiative, which will need 60% of the vote to be approved. Another provision states that “Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, may acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories.”
This ballot item has been criticized by DeSantis, who opposed Trump in the GOP presidential race but then supported him when he withdrew his campaign. DeSantis has called the initiative “radical” and earlier this year claimed that, should it be approved, “This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns.”
A resolution opposing the ballot initiative was overwhelmingly passed by the Republican Party of Florida’s executive board, and in May, the Florida GOP voiced its opposition to it. Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power released a statement saying this amendment, as well as a separate abortion amendment, “are unnecessary attempts by an increasingly shrinking minority who know the only way to win support for their radical agenda is to confuse and mislead the electorate.”
