Francis Suarez, Republican presidential candidate for 2024, says that federal cannabis policy must “catch up” to states which have legalized the drug. He cites safety concerns relating to the continued barriers to banking services within the industry. The GOP candidate, who was Miami’s former mayor, has a mixed track record in the local cannabis industry.
Suarez said in a Saturday tweet that “Federal cannabis policy needs to catch-up with the will and 40 states who have legalized adult and/or medical use.” “If Congress leaders cannot find a responsible way to end prohibition, deferring state policy to regulate cannabis is the best option.”
The federal policy on cannabis must catch up to the will of Americans and the 40 States that have legalized adult and/or medical use. Deferring state regulation of cannabis to the states is not a good idea if congressional leaders cannot find a way to end prohibition.
Mayor Francis Suarez July 22, 2020 HTML0
He added that “current federal policy poses a significant risk to the public’s safety, as most state-legal marijuana businesses are not allowed to access the banking system, and must work in cash.” This puts the lives of industry workers in danger and increases violent crimes.
Suarez’s position, which comes at a time when activists are working to place a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot for next year’s statewide election, stands in stark contrast to the positions of all other Republican presidential candidates. None of them have indicated that they will take proactive steps to end the federal prohibition of cannabis.
Suarez’s remarks have, however, prompted some criticism from Floridians. They claim that the mayor’s government prevented them from obtaining a medical cannabis license in Miami. During years of litigation, the city argued that federal prohibition took precedence over the state’s program for medical marijuana.
The blockade was finally lifted by 2022, after a federal court sided with applicants for medical cannabis dispensary licensing who sued the city in the previous year. A federal judge denied the local officials request to hear the case in federal court and ruled that the suit would be best handled in Florida’s circuit court.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Appeals Board voted in favor of approving a certificate to the dispensary applicant. The zoning director attempted to appeal the decision in 2021. However, the City Commission rejected it and allowed the medical marijuana business to open.
Even though the ban was lifted, many still blame Suarez for failing to take a proactive approach to help the entrepreneurs who struggled to open shops for years.
It’s funny that you say this because I was rejected by Venture Miami when I applied as a cannabis Edtech Founder because I had cannabis.
FL politicians need to catch up. https://t.co/p0jX644j60
The Lioness of Marketing
@martinefpierre July 22, 2020
Suarez, who was a Miami City Commission member in 2017, missed a vote that would have given police the discretion to issue civil citations to simple cannabis possession offences, but he later said he supported the reform.
However, despite the new policy, the police made thousands of arrests in the city, mainly targeting young Black men. Suarez may not have been directly accountable for the enforcement action as a former city commissioner, and then later as mayor, but it does appear that he did not speak out publicly about the issue.
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The mayor’s new support for federal reform seems to also include an endorsement for efforts to release banking services for marijuana industry. Bipartisan congressional legislators are actively working toward by a bill being held up due to disagreements over a critical section.
Suarez’s next move is unclear. It’s not known if he will attempt to convince voters in Florida to support a ballot measure that would legalize cannabis statewide. The state attorney general is asking the Florida Supreme Court invalidate the initiative that has enough signatures for qualification.
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