Former President Donald Trump will vote for Florida’s adult-use marijuana legalization measure this November, according to a social media post the Republican presidential nominee made Sunday night.
And if Trump is elected for a second term, he’ll continue the Biden administration’s marijuana-rescheduling process while also pushing for long-awaited banking reform.
“As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 in November,” Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media website, at 11:18 p.m. ET on Sunday.
“As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking (sic) fo state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens.”
Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana in 2016.
Amendment 3, a legalization campaign primarily funded by Florida-based marijuana multistate operator Trulieve, would need 60% support to pass, according to state law.
Trump’s marijuana evolution
Trump’s support for both state legalization and federal reform follows a more ambiguous Truth Social post in which he said Amendment 3 would pass, “Whether people like it or not” but did not explicitly endorse legalization.
As president, Trump adopted a hands-off stance, though he did worry the marijuana industry when he appointed Jeff Sessions, a staunchly anti-marijuana former Alabama senator who compared cannabis to heroin, as U.S. attorney general.
Trump’s latest stance, coming just before his scheduled debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, means the two major party candidates broadly agree on marijuana – a historic first, observers said Monday.
“For the first time in history, both major party candidates support large-scale cannabis reform,” said David Culver, senior vice president of public affairs at the U.S. Cannabis Council, a Washington, D.C.-based lobby for regulated cannabis companies.
“We welcome former President Trump’s historic endorsement of large-scale cannabis reform, including the reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to III, the passage of Florida’s Amendment 3 to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, and the passage of the SAFE Banking Act to bring standard banking services to the cannabis industry,” Culver added.
“He joins millions of Americans who have reassessed their views on cannabis in recent years.”
Recent polling is split on Amendment 3’s viability.
In Florida, “President Trump’s support could prove pivotal for meeting the 60% threshold required to become law,” Culver added.
“We look forward to hearing more from him about how he would approach cannabis reform if elected this November.”
MJ operators frustrated with Democrats
Some industry operators, frustrated with the pace of major federal reform under a Democratic White House but a split Congress, said Monday that Trump’s shift is a game changer.
“I’ve long believed and stated that Fmr. President Trump would be supportive of cannabis reform, and today’s messaging marks his strongest endorsement of the issue to date,” Brady Cobb, the CEO of Sunburn Cannabis, a vertically integrated cannabis operator in Florida, said in an email to MJBizDaily.
According to Cobb, Trump’s new position means the Republican nominee “stole the issue from Democrats who have long talked about reform but never delivered on their promises.”
The Biden administration’s proposal to move marijuana to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act will be heard before an administrative law judge on Dec. 2.
The hearing is the next step in a process Biden launched with an October 2022 executive order, which led to the historic finding in August 2023 from federal health regulators that cannabis has currently accepted medical use in the United States.
Trump at odds with Republican Party over cannabis
Trump’s new stance puts him at odds with both the Florida Republican Party and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a onetime challenger for the party’s presidential nomination.
Both the party and DeSantis are opposing Amendment 3 and raising funds to defeat it.
It also puts him at odds with the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C. – including past positions taken by his own vice presidential pick, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
Vance went on record last fall opposing the SAFER Banking Act championed by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Though that bill did receive a historic committee hearing in September 2023, Schumer did not call it for a full floor vote, in part because of flagging Republican support.
Meanwhile, some top Republicans including former Attorney General William Barr, who was appointed by former President Trump, are opposing the Biden administration’s ongoing rescheduling process.
House Republican lawmakers also inserted language into unrelated bills that would block the Biden administration’s rescheduling process, though those bills are unlikely to become law.
Marijuana and abortion on Florida ballot
In addition to marijuana legalization, Florida residents will vote on a measure that would roll back abortion restrictions.
During the 2023 election in Ohio, voters approved both adult-use marijuana legalization as well as abortion protections, though the state requires only a simple majority and not the 60% threshold needed to pass in Florida.
Recent polling shows Trump still enjoys a comfortable lead over Harris in the Sunshine State.
Chris Roberts can be reached at chris.roberts@mjbizdaily.com.
