DeSantis Vs. Trump Over Florida Cannabis Legalization: Guess Who's Winning

Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continue to square off over cannabis legalization, with the former supporting and the latter opposing.

"As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November," Trump wrote Sunday in a Truth Social post. "As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock medical uses of marijuana to a schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws."

Shortly before Trump's remarks hit the wires, DeSantis told a gathering at City Church Tallahassee that the cannabis legalization initiative, known as Amendment 3, was "coming because of one weed company, Trulieve who basically has a de facto monopoly" or a "weed cartel." He proceeded to accuse the CEO of Florida medical marijuana giant, Trulieve Cannabis Corp TCNNF of having personally written the ballot amendment.

But when it comes to Trump's newly-found support of legal cannabis, both in Florida and on a national level, DeSantis is still not commenting or casting aspersions.

Casey DeSantis Takes Up The Anti-Weed Battle

However, Casey DeSantis isn’t shy about sharing her thoughts on the matter, even if she’s echoing her husband’s views — and that’s fine.

“Amendment 3 creates a permanent, constitutional right to possess over 100 joints at a time and SMOKE ANYWHERE in Florida—even public places where it could more easily fall into the hands of children,” she posted on X.

Read Also: Top Dem Congressman Calls Trump’s Cannabis Support A ‘Powerful Signal’ To GOP: ‘When Even Donald Trump Can Get On Board…’

Amendment 3 creates a permanent, constitutional right to possess over 100 joints at a time and SMOKE ANYWHERE in Florida—even public places where it could more easily fall into the hands of children.

What's more, it creates a monopoly & blanket legal immunity for big weed… https://t.co/Fv5eXDW6t2

— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) September 9, 2024

The DeSantis couple are not the only Republicans fuming over Trump’s endorsement of legal weed in the Sunshine state.

Stuart Stevens, chief strategist for Mitt Romney‘s 2012 presidential campaign, told MSNBC that the former president was essentially a hypocrite who’d say anything to get ahead. “Donald Trump, he’s on both sides of so many of these issues. I mean, within an hour he reversed himself on what position he was going to take on the abortion referendum in Florida. It’s because there’s nothing there except this desire to be president, this desire to be in control … so he’ll say anything.”

Several other GOP stalwarts joined Stevens in his criticism of the former president, reported Newsweek.

Actually, the Republicans’ comments were not unlike those made by Vice President Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign team, which referred to Trump’s cannabis announcement as “blatant pandering.”

Read more on that:

• Harris Campaign Accuses Trump Of ‘Blatant Pandering’ And Lying About His Cannabis Support Announcement

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Shaleah Craighead and Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons and Kindel Media on Pexels