Former President Donald Trump says he supports a public ban on smoking marijuana, but that people shouldn't be criminalized for carrying "small amounts" of weed.
"In Florida, like so many other States that have already given their approval, personal amounts of marijuana will be legalized for adults with Amendment 3," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. "Whether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the Voters, so it should be done correctly."
Florida's Amendment 3, titled Recreational Marijuana, would allow adults who are at least 21 years of age have up to 3 ounces of marijuana (a 'small amount'?) and up to 5 grams of marijuana concentrate. At present, the state only allows medical patients with qualifying conditions to legally buy and possess cannabis.
If the measure passes, Florida would become the 25th state in the US to legalize weed for personal use.
That's cool with Trump, as long as the state prohibits public use "so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go."
"At the same time, someone should not be a criminal in Florida, when this is legal in so many other States," Trump continued. "We do not need to ruin lives & waste Taxpayer Dollars arresting adults with personal amounts of it on them, and no one should grieve a loved one because they died from fentanyl laced marijuana."
As the Epoch Times notes further, Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, a former state Republican Party chairman, cheered Trump’s stance on Amendment 3.
“I am incredibly proud to have President Trump stand alongside us in our effort to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for simple possession of marijuana and to give Floridians the same individual freedom to choose safe, tested products that more than half the country already enjoys,” Gruters wrote on X.
Gruters has pledged to push legislation to make sure public spaces remain smoke-free if voters approve the ballot measure in November, a proposal that now has Trump’s backing.
“President Trump’s call for smart implementation is exactly why I filed a bill to prevent smoking in public,” the Gruters said. “Marijuana should be consumed at home, and I will work alongside my colleagues in the legislature to ensure Florida does this right.”
The ballot measure faces opposition from Gov. Ron DeSantis, other state Republican leaders, and police groups including the Florida Sheriffs Association. Critics of Amendment 3 say it will go beyond decriminalizing personal use of marijuana and lower the Sunshine State’s overall quality of life.
“It’s basically a license to have it anywhere you want,” the governor said in April at a press conference. “So no time, place, and manner restrictions. This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns.”
The Florida Sheriffs Association issued more severe warnings, arguing that the legalization would increase criminal activity, illegal use among adolescents, traffic accidents, homelessness, and hospitalizations.
“Marijuana legalization advocates have argued that legalization will reduce overall crime, but in ‘legal’ states, marijuana crime rates have risen at a faster rate than other states across the country,” the group stated in a resolution opposing Amendment 3.
To help defeat Amendment 3, DeSantis has launched Florida Freedom Fund, a political spending committee chaired by James Uthmeier, his chief of staff who served as his campaign manager during the unsuccessful bid to win Republican nomination for White House. The group is also devoted to stopping Amendment 4, which would establish a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability.
The measures need approval from at least 60 percent of voters to become part of the state’s governing document.
