Is Trump laying the groundwork to steal cannabis from the Dems?

ELECTION ‘24
Trump opens the door for reform

What happened: Former President Donald Trump, fresh off a recent tacit — if not super strong — endorsement of Florida’s cannabis legalization push, made more positive public comments about medical cannabis.

Trump’s change in tune on cannabis comes after a reported meeting with Florida cannabis company Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers and state Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, reports Marijuana Moment. 

Trulieve is by far the largest financial backer of Amendment 3, the ballot measure to legalize cannabis in the state. The company contributed another $10 million to the campaign in August, bringing Trulieve’s total funding to more than $75 million (!). 

What he’s saying: “First of all, medical marijuana has been amazing,” Trump told podcaster Lex Fridman. “I’ve had friends and doctors telling me it’s been absolutely amazing.” 

“We can live with the marijuana. It’s got to be a certain age to buy it. It’s got to be done in a very concerted, lawful way… You’ve got to have a system where there’s control.”

Listen to the rest of Trump’s comments on cannabis policy here, around the 25 minute mark. 

Back up for a second: Last week, Trump released a statement that — in a roundabout fashion — endorsed the passage of Amendment 3. 

That measure needs a 60% supermajority to pass, so Trump’s endorsement could go a long way. His position pits him directly against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, still considered a rising Republican star, so it will be interesting to see how the vote shakes out and whose voice holds sway among Florida voters. 

Why it matters: We’re in a world where both presidential candidates are seemingly pro-cannabis reform. 

Let that sink in.

Cannabis legalization is widely popular with voters in both parties. Seventy-percent of Americans say cannabis should be legal, including a slim majority of Republicans, according to recent polls.

Like same-sex marriage, when issues poll so high — they become nearly inevitable, but it still takes political courage to move them over the finish line. Both Presidential candidates are paying attention. It’s now bad politics to be anti-legalization (sorry DeSantis).

Vice President Kamala Harris, for her part, introduced broad legalization bills when she was a Senator and called federal prohibition “absurd” at a White House cannabis roundtable. And now Trump has made multiple public statements opening the door. 

Our take: On the one hand, Donald Trump is Donald Trump. He’s just as likely to parrot what the last person tells him and change his mind tomorrow. 

Remember, he’s the US Presidential candidate who bragged consistently about his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, denied the results of a lawful election and nearly fomented an insurrection, and is the first former President convicted of 34 (!) felony charges stemming from a hush money trial over a relationship with a porn star.

It’s the media’s job to point out that his public statements are far from trustworthy and that’s a job we’ll take seriously. Any rational person should take what he said with a heaping grain of salt. 

On the other hand, it’s now possible that cannabis, due to how popular it is, becomes a point on the debate stage. While President Joe Biden has so far instituted the broadest federal reform of any chief executive on cannabis, Schedule III is far from a done deal given the upcoming hearing in December.

And despite Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats’ lofty statements on cannabis reform and various bills, they don’t have many concrete results.

Trump and the Republicans have a real chance to steal this issue. The drip-drip-drip of Trump’s comments to that effect seem like they know it. 

But Republicans, like much GOP policy of the past eight years, are only going by Trump’s statements and don’t yet have a coherent policy position.

The Democrats have clearly tied cannabis reform to criminal and social justice, as stated in the party’s 2024 platform. We’re not yet hearing a coherent vision from the Republicans, who could use a states rights, job-creation, pro-business argument to great effect. 

If or when that comes, we might be in the best case scenario for the industry: Competing on how to legalize cannabis, not whether to do it. With our apologies to Smart Approaches to Marijuana. 

-JB

“We welcome former President Trump's comments on Amendment 3 in Florida, which would legalize adult use cannabis in the state. He joins millions of Americans who have reassessed their views on cannabis in recent years,” David Culver, of the powerful industry trade group The US Cannabis Council said in a statement regarding Trump’s endorsement of legalization in Florida.  

“Amendment 3 enjoys strong bipartisan support from Florida voters, and President Trump's support could prove pivotal for meeting the 60% threshold required to become law. We look forward to hearing more from him about how he would approach cannabis reform if elected this November.”

Cannabis firm Jushi Holdings filed its intention with Canadian securities regulators to raise up to $350 million through a base shelf prospectus. 

Payments company FundCanna is launching a new product, ReadyPaid, which the company says will help cannabis firms manage cash flow issues and allow vendors to receive immediate payments — a major issue in the capital-starved industry.

“For generations, we fought a War on Drugs, and lost.” That’s from a former police officer in a new ad from Smart & Safe Florida, the campaign to legalize cannabis in Florida:

The US pre-roll industry generated over $4 billion in revenue over the past year-and-a-half, according to a report from cannabis analytics firm Headset. Read the full report.

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