Trump Dislikes Having People In Jail For Cannabis: Will He Legalize If Elected Or Just Trying To Appeal To VP Harris’ Voters?

Looking back at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago wherein former President Donald Trump implied that he was open to supporting marijuana legalization, one could extrapolate that he is leaning in the direction of federal legalization of weed… Or is he desperately seeking to pull votes away from his cannabis-supporting contender, VP Kamala Harris?

Up to now, in his battle with Harris for the White House, Trump has been quite vague about whether or not he supports cannabis legalization, though recent comments suggest that might be changing.

What’s Happening With Trump’s Views On Cannabis?

The former president, who rarely mentioned cannabis during his time in office and even less so afterward, made headlines with occasional remarks—such as when he told the National Rifle Association that the rise in mass shootings was “not a gun problem,” but that “genetically engineered” cannabis and the trans community should be investigated instead.

Read Also: Trump’s Nod Could Seal Florida’s Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Says Longtime Ally Roger Stone

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Trump’s Marijuana Metamorphosis?

During the press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence earlier in August, Trump implied that he was open to supporting marijuana legalization, creating a flurry of press reports and probably some excitement among those who might be unaware of his propensity to make off-the-cuff politically convenient remarks.

“As we legalize it, I start to agree a lot more because it’s being legalized all over the country,” Trump said at the time.

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The former president, who is a Florida resident, also promised to release a statement on the Sunshine State’s upcoming ballot initiative to legalize cannabis, also known as Amendment 3, to be decided in the November 2024 election.

“Florida has something coming up. I’ll be making a statement about that fairly soon, but as we legalize it throughout the country, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, it’s awfully hard to have people all over the jails that are in jail right now for something that’s legal,” Trump said. “So, I think obviously there’s a lot of sentiment to doing that.”

But, Here’s A Question For All Of Us: Will Trump And DeSantis Break Up Over Cannabis?

In view of the fact that Gov. Ron DeSantis is very much against the passage of Amendment 3, how does Trump’s newly enlightened cannabis attitude affect the two leaders’ relationship?

Perhaps we’ll leave that thorny issue for another day.

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Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Shealah Craighead on Wikimedia Commons and Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash