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Ahead of announcing his support for the marijuana legalization initiative on Florida\u2019s ballot this weekend, former President Donald Trump met with the CEO of a major cannabis company, as well as with a GOP state senator who is in favor of the reform.<\/p>\n
Trump took some by surprise when he took a position on the state measure\u2014which he\u2019ll have the chance to vote on in November as a Florida resident. Before making his announcement on Saturday, he had a meetings with Florida Sen. Joe Gruters (R) and Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, according to the lawmaker and several other industry sources who confirmed the discussions to Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n
Trulieve has contributed over $70 million to the cannabis campaign Smart & Safe Florida behind Amendment 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people were talking to him,\u201d Gruters, who previously chaired the Florida Republican Party, told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday, adding that he and Trump had \u201cfollow-up conversations to talk about the amendment\u2014what it does and and what I think it will do here in Florida\u2014and the policy surrounding it, and politically, why I think it\u2019s a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe discussed the policy at length. Here in Florida, it\u2019s common sense,\u201d Gruters said. \u201cPresident Trump is certainly trying to make inroads with the younger demographics, where I think a lot of these voters\u2014certainly undecided ones\u2014where this can make a big difference. And I think that certainly had a role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gruters, who said he\u2019s known Trulieve\u2019s Rivers since college, said he\u2019s aware that the CEO spoke with Trump about the issue, but he isn\u2019t aware of the specific details of their conversation. Multiple cannabis executives have also reached out to the Trump campaign to discuss cannabis policy in recent months, he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time that there was outreach in favor of the reform, there were also \u201ca lot of people that were trying to talk him out of saying anything nice\u201d about legalization, the senator said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike any major policy decision, he\u2019s going to get input from lots of people, but I\u2019m thankful to be in the circle where I could offer my opinion, and I think he values it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Marijuana Moment made repeated attempts to reach Rivers, Trulieve and the Trump campaign for clarification. Rivers initially answered texts and calls but declined to comment on the specific matter of discussions with Trump. Other representatives of Trulieve similarly provided no clarification on the meeting.<\/p>\n
After this article was published, a Trulieve spokesperson responded to Marijuana Moment\u2019s queries by claiming that its headline is \u201cmisleading\u201d and that the reporting unfairly focused on Rivers given that other industry stakeholders also allegedly communicated with Trump. \u201cSingling her out here is not helpful, not verified, nor appreciated,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
In any case, shortly following the discussions with Rivers and Gruters, Trump said at a press conference last month that he\u2019s starting to \u201cagree a lot more\u201d that people should not be criminalized over marijuana<\/a> given that it\u2019s \u201cbeing legalized all over the country\u201d\u2014adding that he will \u201cfairly soon\u201d reveal his position.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we legalize it, I start to agree a lot more because, you know, it\u2019s being legalized all over the country,\u201d Trump said at a press conference in August. \u201cFlorida has something coming up. I\u2019ll be making a statement about that fairly soon.\u201d<\/p>\n A reporter had asked about the Biden-Harris administration push to reschedule cannabis, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris,\u00a0the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee<\/a>, stating repeatedly that people should not be incarcerated over simple cannabis offenses.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we legalize it throughout the country\u2014whether that\u2019s a good thing or a bad thing\u2014it\u2019s awfully hard to have people all over the jails that are in jail right now for something that\u2019s legal,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cSo I think obviously there\u2019s a lot of sentiment to doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, on Saturday, Trump said he believes voters in his home state of Florida will approve the marijuana legalization initiative<\/a>, arguing that \u201csomeone should not be a criminal in Florida, when this is legal in so many other States.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn Florida, like so many other States that have already given their approval, personal amounts of marijuana will be legalized for adults with Amendment 3,\u201d the former president said in a post on his social media site Truth Social. \u201cWhether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the Voters, so it should be done correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe need the State Legislature to responsibly create laws that prohibit the use of it in public spaces, so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities,\u201d he added. \u201cAt the same time, someone should not be a criminal in Florida, when this is legal in so many other States. We do not need to ruin lives & waste Taxpayer Dollars arresting adults with personal amounts of it on them, and no one should grieve a loved one because they died from fentanyl laced marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n Longtime ally and GOP political operative Roger Stone, who is also a Florida resident and supports the legalization proposal, separately told Marijuana Moment that if Trump did ultimately endorse the measure it would \u201cguarantee victory.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In more recent comments published on Tuesday, Trump said medical marijuana has been \u201cabsolutely amazing\u201d for patients, and that the Florida legalization initiative is \u201cgoing to be very good\u201d for the state<\/a> after it passes, which he expects to happen.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, following Trump\u2019s recent announcement of support for the cannabis legalization ballot measure in Florida<\/a>, the campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris started working to remind voters that while in office, Trump \u201ctook marijuana reform backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n In an memo from a senior campaign spokesperson, the Harris campaign accused Trump of \u201cbrazen flip flops\u201d on cannabis. The Democratic campaign says it\u2019s one of the Republican former president\u2019s \u201cseveral bewildering \u2018policy proposals\u2019 that deserve real scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is sponsoring a bill to federally legalize marijuana called the States Reform Act, separately said that while she hopes Trump will back the Biden administration\u2019s rescheduling move<\/a>, she also said part of the reason Republicans in Congress have declined to embrace marijuana policy change is because they\u2019re \u201cafraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also recently\u00a0went after Harris over her prosecutorial record on marijuana<\/a>, claiming that she put \u201cthousands and thousands of Black people in jail\u201d for cannabis offenses\u2014but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s line of attack, while misleading, was nonetheless notable in the sense that the GOP presidential nominee implied that he disagrees with criminalizing people over marijuana and is moving to leverage the idea that Harris played a role in racially disproportionate mass incarceration.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate<\/a>, choosing a candidate who backed numerous cannabis reform measures in Congress, called for an end to prohibition when he was running for governor and then signed a comprehensive legalization bill into law in 2023.<\/p>\n As president, Trump largely stayed true to his position that marijuana laws should be handled at the state-level, with no major crackdown on cannabis programs as some feared after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama era federal enforcement guidance. In fact, Trump\u00a0criticized the top DOJ official and suggested the move should be reversed<\/a>.<\/p>\n While he was largely silent on the issue of legalization, he did tentatively endorse a bipartisan bill to\u00a0codify federal policy respecting states\u2019 rights to legalize<\/a>.<\/p>\n That said, on several occasions he released signing statements on spending legislation stipulating that he\u00a0reserved the right to ignore a long-standing rider<\/a>\u00a0that prohibits the Justice Department from\u00a0using its funds to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before President Joe Biden bowed out of the race, his campaign made much of the president\u2019s mass cannabis pardons and rescheduling push,\u00a0drawing a contrast with the Trump administration\u2019s record<\/a>. The Harris campaign so far has not spoken to that particular issue, and the nominee has yet to publicly discuss marijuana policy issues since her own campaign launched.<\/p>\n \u2014 Back in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has doubled down on his opposition campaign against the marijuana legalization initiative<\/a> that will appear on his state\u2019s November ballot. Meanwhile, a prominent conservative pollster is reminding his party that the issue enjoys sizable bipartisan support.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a Democratic congresswoman who recently said she was\u00a0on the fence about whether she\u2019d vote for the legalization ballot initiative<\/a>\u00a0this November\u00a0has officially given the measure her endorsement<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a mixed bag of feedback on Amendment 3 from members of Florida\u2019s congressional delegation.<\/p>\n One pro-legalization GOP congressman, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), recently said he intends to vote against it,\u00a0strictly because he feels the reform should be enacted statutorily<\/a>, rather than as a constitutional amendment that would prove more challenging to amend.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus,\u00a0predicted earlier this year that the measure will pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump Says Florida Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Will Be \u2018Very Good\u2019 For The State, Adding That Medical Use Is \u2018Absolutely Amazing\u2019 For Patients<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Trump Met With Top Marijuana Company CEO And Florida GOP Senator Before Supporting Legalization Measure<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Ahead of announcing his support for the marijuana legalization initiative on Florida\u2019s ballot this weekend, former President Donald Trump met with the CEO of a major cannabis company, as well as with a GOP state senator who is in favor of the reform. Trump took some by surprise when heContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":77700,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77699"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77701,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77699\/revisions\/77701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Trump Met With Top Marijuana Company CEO And Florida GOP Senator Before Supporting Legalization Measure<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"