Smart & Safe Florida, the group behind the effort to pass the adult use of marijuana initiative next week, is counterprogramming Gov. Ron DeSantis’s anti-amendment blitz by touting the active support of fellow Republican Donald Trump in a new ad.
The spot, which begins airing statewide on Wednesday, features both Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ endorsements of decriminalizing cannabis. It shows a clip of Harris saying, “We need to legalize it,” followed by Trump telling a podcaster, “It’s gotta be done in a very concerted, lawful way. The way they’re doing it in Florida, it’s going to be very good.”
Trump announced on his Truth Social page last month that “[a]s a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November.
“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 for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens,” Trump added in that post.
Trump hasn’t announced support for federal cannabis legalization — something Harris has come out for.
“I just think we have come to the point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris said on the All the Smoke podcast last month. She added, “I have felt for a long time that we need to legalize it.”
“Amendment 3 isn’t about political parties or red v. blue identities. Supporting the legalization of recreational adult use marijuana is about upholding the principles of individual freedom and liberty that our country was founded upon,” said Morgan Hill, spokesperson for Smart & Safe Florida in a written statement.
Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
