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Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has declared that low-level marijuana arrests are a “waste [of] taxpayers’ dollars,” and he is predicting that Florida voters will approve an initiative this fall legalizing cannabis sales.
In a social media post, Trump stated: “[P]ersonal amounts of marijuana will be legalized for adults with Amendment 3. … We do not need to ruin lives and waste taxpayers’ dollars arresting adults with personal amounts of it on them.”
Trump’s post also implied that he would prefer a legal marijuana market over an unregulated one.
His post did not explicitly state whether he would be voting in favor of the Amendment 3 initiative, which permits existing medical cannabis facilities to engage in adult-use marijuana sales. Because the ballot proposal is in the form of a constitutional amendment, it requires approval from a super-majority of Florida voters (60 percent) to become law.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis strongly opposes passage of Amendment 3.
In follow-up comments, Trump added that the Amendment’s success would be “very good” for Florida. He also lauded the use of medical marijuana, saying, “I’ve had … doctors telling me that it’s been absolutely amazing.”
While Trump has previously expressed support for the use of cannabis for medical purposes, he has also been critical of states’ decisions to legalize the adult-use of marijuana – opining that, in some instances, legalization has led to “big problems.”
Late last month, Trump added former independent Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, Jr. and former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team. Both have long been outspoken advocates of legalizing marijuana.
Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has repeatedly said that “nobody should have to go to jail” for possessing marijuana. As a US Senator, she sponsored legislation to end the federal prohibition of cannabis. In March, Harris led a round-table discussion with marijuana pardon recipients. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, signed adult-use legalization legislation into law in 2023, stating: “We’ve known for too long that prohibiting the use of cannabis hasn’t worked. By legalizing adult-use cannabis, we’re expanding our economy, creating jobs, and regulating the industry to keep Minnesotans safe.”
Additional Election 2024 coverage is available from NORML.
