Trump Endorses Florida’s Amendment 3 to Legalize Recreational Cannabis
In one of his most explicit opinions on recreational cannabis to date, former U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that a possible Trump administration in 2025 may be more amenable to the industry than widely perceived. Trump’s comments on Florida’s Amendment 3, which seeks to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. If approved by 60 percent of general-election voters in November, Amendment 3 would authorize more than two dozen state licensed dealers to sell cannabis to adults for recreational use and allow the possession of the substance up to 3 ounces.
In a social media Truth Social post dated August 31, Trump emphasized that whether people agree or not, recreational cannabis policy change will ultimately be decided by voters. He further suggested that people in Florida shouldn’t face criminal charges for possessing small amounts of cannabis when it’s legal in many other states, thus wasting taxpayer money on such arrests. Additionally, Trump highlighted the danger of fentanyl-laced marijuana, suggesting that no one should lose a loved one to this threat.
“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. Whether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the voters, so it should be done correctly.”
As a Florida resident, Trump will be eligible to cast his vote on this issue in November, giving him a direct say in the outcome of Amendment 3. His stance on cannabis legalization, which Trump has mostly kept under wraps until recently, conclusively moves him closer with that of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the first major party presidential nominee to advocate for cannabis legalization.
While Trump does not support broad public cannabis consumption, his comments were regarded as supportive of a plurality of the state’s constituency wishing to support the ballot measure. In August, a Suffolk University/USA TODAY/WSVN-TV poll showed that Amendment 3 would pass with 63% of the vote—significantly higher than the three-fifths majority required for success under Florida law.
Trump’s views also clearly contrast those of Governor Ron DeSantis, who in May launched a new political committee to target a pair of ballot initiatives on abortion access and legalizing cannabis in Florida.
Furthermore, Trump’s comments come almost eight years after Florida voters approved the use of medicinal marijuana, Amendment 2, with 71% of voters voting in favor on November 8, 2016. Once ratified, Amendment 2 added a new section to Florida’s state constitution, entitled “Medical marijuana production, possession, and use,” protecting qualifying patients, caregivers, physicians, and medical marijuana dispensaries and their staff from criminal prosecutions or civil sanctions under Florida law.
According to a report from the Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference released in July of 2023, recreational marijuana will generate sales tax revenue of between $195 million and $431 million a year in the state. These sales tax dollars would be mostly earmarked to the state Treasury like any other sales tax. However, there’s currently no plan to direct the money to any specific use or social justice initiative.
In our view, Trump’s comments bode positively for the industry from a regulatory standpoint should he win the presidency in November. With the explicit acknowledgement that “so many other states have already given their approval” and emphasis on decriminalization and quality control (fentanyl laced marijuana), it appears Trump’s favors deferring to state rights on the issue.
To that end, the repeat appointment of a cannabis-adverse Attorney General, as was the case for Jeff Sessions in 2017, appears increasingly unlikely.
