While immigration and the economy are sure to take center stage in Tuesday night’s presidential debate, questions on legalizing marijuana might just spark its own discussion.
Former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says that he plans to vote in favor of recreational marijuana in Florida’s November elections. Floridians will have Amendment 3 on the ballot this fall, which would allow adults over 21 to purchase, possess, and consume marijuana, limited to 3.0 ounces, or five grams of concentrate.
Medical marijuana is already legal in Florida. In the past, Trump has withheld his personal position on legalization but has repeatedly said that individual states should be allowed to pass their own marijuana laws.
In contrast, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has expressed support for national marijuana legalization, according NORML activist Chris Goldstein, who on Monday described a private meeting with the vice-president for Marijuana Moment. Harris was also leading sponsor of the MORE Act in the US Senate, a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.
Trump is urging the Florida state legislature to pass bans on using marijuana in public spaces, but says he believes the proposed Florida law will save taxpayer money in prosecuting small amounts of possession and prevent death from marijuana laced with fentanyl.
The Florida measure also “allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law.”
The position puts him at odds with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is campaigning against Amendment 3. It also indicates a likely opening for Trump to criticize Harris Tuesday night for her prosecution of marijuana arrests when serving as attorney general of California.
In North Carolina, the North Carolina Senate gave its final approval to a bill in June that would legalize medical marijuana across the state, but the House did not take it up.
In western North Carolina over the summer, adult use of marijuana was legalized for members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and other members of federally recognized tribes after EBCI passed a referendum in 2023.