Former President Donald Trump signaled support Saturday for a ballot measure in his adopted home state of Florida that would legalize recreational marijuana — but demanded lawmakers craft legislation that would also public toking.
Trump characterized the passage of the ballot measure, known as Amendment 3, as a foregone conclusion, questioning the need to criminalize pot given its legal status elsewhere.
“Whether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the Voters, so it should be done correctly,” the Republican presidential candidate wrote on Truth Social.
“We need the State Legislature to responsibly create laws that prohibit the use of it in public spaces, so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities.”
The former president said his stance on Amendment 3 is part of his campaign’s law and order platform, insisting criminalizing cannabis will “ruin lives & waste Taxpayer Dollars [by] arresting adults with personal amounts of it on them.”
“No one should grieve a loved one because they died from fentanyl-laced marijuana,” he added.
Trump did not say explicitly how he would vote on the ballot measure, but his seeming endorsement puts him at odds with a number of other Republican lawmakers who oppose legal pot in the Sunshine State, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On Wednesday, DeSantis slammed the marijuana legalization initiative as “bad policy and even worse constitutional law.”
Public polling shows a majority of Florida voters back legalizing cannabis, although the ballot measure will at least 60 percent support to pass under state law.
The initiative legalize the possession and purchase of up to three ounces of marijuana by adults 21 or older for recreational use.
