The Trump campaign slapped 2024 Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and urged the Florida Governor to pick up edible marijuana while in Nevada to relieve stress from the race.
Steven Cheung made these comments on Saturday in response to the stagnant numbers of DeSantis’ polls.
Florida Politics reported that he had said: “Maybe Ron could visit a smoke shop to buy some edibles and relieve the stress. [DeSantis’ strategist] Jeff Roe would know since he is lobbying in Iowa for marijuana legalization.”
DeSantis will not take up the Trump campaign official’s recommendation as he opposes cannabis and thinks it smells “putrid.” However, an edible may not have the same “pungent” odor he dislikes.
Cheung tried to link Nevada marijuana to DeSantis’ alleged lobbying activities in Iowa. However, Roe’s name is not listed in that state’s database of lobbyists, and recreational marijuana remains illegal despite the fact that it’s surrounded by states that have legalized the drug.
Politico reports that Roe’s Axiom Strategy, which received millions of dollars from the pro DeSantis super PAC “Never Back Down”, has also been compensated millions by a campaign for a marijuana legalization measure to be placed on Florida’s ballot in 2024. It’s possible that Trump spokesperson Cheung mixed up the states in his remarks.
Marijuana Moment contacted Cheung and Roe to clarify, but neither had responded by the publication date.
DeSantis and Trump are not cannabis fans, but the former president did express a willingness to make modest reforms during his tenure as president. His first attorney general, however, rescinded Obama-era guidelines that instructed prosecutors to refrain from interfering in state cannabis laws. He has also taken an aggressive stance in other drug policy matters, such as calling for the executions of those who sell illegal substances.
DeSantis has, on the other hand, pledged that , if elected as president, “would not legalize marijuana”. He claimed in August, contrary to the evidence, that reform had actually increased the size the illicit market of Colorado.
Florida voters could have the option to expand access, regardless of what the governor says. The state Supreme Court is deciding whether or not a initiative for marijuana legalization will appear on Florida’s ballot in 2024. Oral arguments are scheduled to take place on November 8 in this case.
DeSantis’s opposition to cannabis legalization–despite recent surveys showing increasing bipartisan support for the reform–is not new. It’s just part of DeSantis’s inconsistent record on cannabis legalization as he tries to keep his position in the Republican presidential race.
In terms of policy, for instance, a law DeSantis signed in Florida that went into effect in July increased medical marijuana advertising and production restrictions, prohibiting any products or messages which promote “recreational cannabis use”, while adding stricter eligibility requirements for industry workers.
In June, he signed a separate measure that prohibited sober living homes from allowing their residents to possess or to use medical marijuana. This is true even if a patient has been certified by a physician to use cannabis legally therapeutically according to state law. All other pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors may still be allowed.
In June, the Governor also signed a law that prohibits sales of consumable hemp products to people under 21. This includes cannabis “chewing-gum”. It is an extension of an existing ban on young people having access to smokable marijuana.
DeSantis’s June bill resulted in the awarding of two long-awaited licenses for medical marijuana businesses to Black farmers in Florida.
A key House committee will consider ending marijuana testing for federal job applicants and lifting the D.C. cannabis sales ban
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