Former President Donald Trump announced support for a Florida ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana, pitting him against the state’s Republican governor, who opposes the measure.
Trump announced on Truth Social late Sunday that he would support Florida Amendment 3, a measure that would allow companies licensed by the state to produce medical marijuana to sell their drug for recreational use. Just hours earlier, however, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned about 200 people at a church in Tallahassee that the amendment would create a legal “drug cartel” in the state and lead to rampant public use of the substance, Politico reported.
“Public use of this will be rampant,” DeSantis said. “You can’t point to a state that is better off for doing it.”
The campaign supporting the measure, which would alter Florida’s constitution if passed, has raised over $80 million in cash, according to Politico. Almost all that money, however, came from Trulieve, which is the largest medical marijuana company in the state.
Trulieve would be one of the handful of companies allowed to sell weed for recreational purposes if Amendment 3 is passed. In order to pass, at least 60% of voters will need to approve the measure.
“They’re creating in Florida’s constitution a drug cartel,” DeSantis said. “And they’ll have no liability with the cultivation and sale of marijuana.”
Several recent studies have linked cannabis use to heart disease, stroke and a variety of mental afflictions. Additionally, roughly 22% of marijuana users develop cannabis use disorder, meaning that they are unable to stop using the substance even if it is causing social or health problems, according to a 2020 study.
“As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock medical uses of marijuana to a schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws.”
The former president also said that he “believe[s] it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” however, DeSantis says that nobody is serving prison time in Florida on weed possession charges, according to Politico.
Trump and DeSantis have also recently been at odds over Florida’s abortion law, which prohibits abortions once an unborn child has a detectable heartbeat, usually around six weeks of pregnancy. Signing the law was a priority for DeSantis, however, Trump has stated that he believes the protections for the unborn are too strong in Florida.
DeSantis also ran an unsuccessful primary campaign against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Trump campaign and the Florida governor’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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