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September 9, 2024
Former Prez Trump goes all in on marijuana reform ... perhaps as a pregame strategy for big Prez debate
I have been covering over at my other blog statements by former Prez Donald Trump about marijuana reform: in this post nine days ago, I noted the social media post seemingly supportive of Florida's marijuana legalization ballot initiative; in this post last week, I noted further comments suggesting his likely support for federal rescheduling. Now, via this latest social media posting from late last night, Trump has made it quite clear that he is all-in on both state and federal marijuana reforms:
As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November. As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens.
These policy positions are quite interesting and significant in their own right, but it is also notable that Trump starts his latest social media posting of his pro-reform positions with this notable preamble: "As I have previously stated, I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use." This sentiment reinforces my prior stated view that Trump, ever the populist, understands that decriminalizing marijuana for personal use is very popular. But it also now has me thinking that Trump is gearing up to attack VP Kamala Harris at their coming debate over her record as a local prosecutor jailing persons for low-level marijuana offenses.
Of course, there is a notable history of Harris being attacked on her marijuana record by Tusli Gabbart back in 2019. This new NBC News article talks about that moment and how "Gabbard won loud, raucous cheers and applause" after stating that Harris "put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana." And, of course, Gabbart has recently endorsed Trump and is apparently part of his debate-prep team:
Asked about Gabbard’s involvement in debate preparations — such as they are in Trump world — a Trump campaign official said she had been helpful getting Trump to think about the pivot from attacking Harris to highlighting his policies or what he would do differently. That included talking through how to take things one step beyond the attack lines he gives at rallies into cohesive debate answers. The campaign official said the Trump team had been trying to get Gabbard involved for a while. “Tulsi Gabbard whipped Kamala Harris’ butt on the debate stage,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. “She’s offering her advice to President Trump ahead of Tuesday’s debate.”
Interesting times, and likely also reflective of the fact that marijuana reform is especially popular with many young voters that Trump seems eager to court. And, for anyone thinking more broadly about criminal justice issues and the coming Prez debate, the Sentencing Matters Substack team has a new post for you: "Presidential Debate: Agreements Call for Deeper Probing on Crime and Punishment."
Some recent related posts:
- Former Prez Trump articulates forceful support for state marijuana legalization, federal rescheduling and banking reforms
- Former Prez Trump suggests he is supportive of marijuana legalization in Florida and elsewhere
- Does former Prez Trump's praise for medical marijuana suggest he would robustly support federal marijuana rescheduling?
- Ever the criminal justice reform populist, former Prez Trump signals support for marijuana legalization in Florida and elsewhere
September 9, 2024 at 01:48 PM | Permalink
Comments
I am curious if anyone has tried a policy of:
1) Marijuana is legal, but
2) its packaging has to talk about its ill effects
For example, one could require five different types of packaging, each used on 1/5 of the product, and each focusing on a different area of harm.
Posted by: William Jockusch | Sep 10, 2024 9:20:09 AM
William: I know Canada has had "plain packaging" requirement along with a health warning message in a yellow box on the front of a product label. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/personal-use/how-read-understand-cannabis-product-label.html
Posted by: Doug B | Sep 10, 2024 9:45:59 AM
The tide in America has turned. MJ is "legal"--needs to be regulated.
Posted by: federalist | Sep 10, 2024 10:08:33 AM
Doug, looking at that packaging, it's a good start. But if things I have been reading about long-term effects.
Just picking a random paragraph from Wikipedia's article on the long-term effects of cannabis:
In 2016 a meta-analysis was published on associations studies covering a range of dosing habits, again showing that cannabis use is associated with a significantly increased risk of psychosis, and alleged that a dose–response relationship exists between the level of cannabis use and risk of psychosis. The risk was increased 4-fold with daily use, though the analysis was not adequate to establish a causal link.[31] Another 2016 meta-analysis found that cannabis use only predicted transition to psychosis among those who met the criteria for abuse of or dependence on the drug.
Posted by: William Jockusch | Sep 13, 2024 10:11:43 PM
I concur, William, that many products ought to have labels/packaging that detail known health risks. We do that pretty well now with a variety of drugs, though not so much with alcohol and junk foods.
On marijuana, there is growing evidence that regular use of high-potency products, particularly by younger persons with still-developing brains, may be especially risky. Other notably concerning public health issues relate to use by pregnant women and a range of possible (and still largely unknown) long-term health risks.
But health issues do not run only in one way. Interestingly, though, beyond various known theraputic uses for pain, seizures, wasting/anorexia and some other conditions, there is research providing suggestive evidence that cannabis use could be helpful for older brains:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8868145/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1568163719303204
In addition to label/packaging warnings, we need much better public health education -- and much more research -- on all these topics. It is one reason I am so gald that the leaders of both major US political parties now support federal rescheduling of marijuana, which is essential to enabling greater research and regulation of the drug.
Posted by: Doug B | Sep 14, 2024 10:03:11 AM
