Donald Trump has publicly declared his support for a constitutional amendment to legalise recreational cannabis in Florida.
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump wrote that “personal amounts of cannabis will be legalised for adults” in Florida’s Amendment 3, adding that this will occur “whether people like it or not.”
Trump, who resides in Florida, argued that “someone should not be a criminal in Florida when this is legal in so many other state.”
He further commented that it is unnecessary to “ruin lives and waste taxpayer dollars arresting adults with personal amounts of it on them.”
Trump’s stance is at variance with that of Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, who has publicly opposed the ballot measure. DeSantis described the amendment as “bad policy and even worse constitutional law” in a post on X, where he also expressed concerns about the potential odour and made unsubstantiated claims regarding the impact on schools.
In his post, Trump urged state lawmakers to enforce regulations that would prohibit the public use of cannabis, stating that it is essential to avoid situations where “we do not smell cannabis everywhere we go,” The Guardian reported.
Advocates for cannabis legalisation have pushed back against these concerns, arguing that the issue of odour is being exaggerated by Republican lawmakers to support policies that would restrict the public use of cannabis, according to The Guardian.
The report highlighted that most US states now permit either medical or recreational cannabis, with 24 states and the District of Columbia having legalised recreational use.
Florida voters have a history of electing Republicans while simultaneously approving more liberal ballot measures, such as legalising medical cannabis, which garnered 71% support in 2016. That same year, Mr. Trump won the state by a narrow margin of just 1 percentage point.
This year, Mr. DeSantis and prominent Florida Republicans have contributed to the campaigns opposing the abortion rights and recreational cannabis amendments. Ken Griffin, a billionaire hedge fund manager based in Miami, donated $12 million to the campaign against Amendment 3, describing the measure as “a terrible plan to create the nation’s most expansive and destructive cannabis laws”, as reported by The New York Times.
Trump’s endorsement comes at a time when polls show him trailing Kamala Harris in key battleground states that could determine the outcome of the presidential race.
The report highlighted that most US states now permit either medical or recreational cannabis, with 24 states and the District of Columbia having legalised recreational use. Read More