Marijuana

The president-elect recently affirmed that he supports legalizing marijuana for recreational use. His stance means cannabis could be a rare issue on which Trump carries a Biden policy forward.

Tuesday’s election marks an historic red wave here in Florida from the Presidential race to constitutional amendment proposals, down to local political contests. WGCU Southwest Florida in Focus host Sandra Viktorova provides some post-election analysis in a conversation with FGCU political scientist Dr. Sandra Pavekla and WGCU host/reporter John Davis.

A $150 million-plus effort to allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida fizzled out Tuesday, falling short of the needed 60 percent voter approval and delivering a major victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The policy would have authorized the state’s medical marijuana growers and retailers to sell to consumers.

This election Florida voters will decide whether marijuana should be available to millions more, allowing anyone age 21 or older to get and use marijuana without a prescription.

Ron DeSantis held a rally in Naples on Tuesday, October 29, campaigning against amendments 3 and 4. His comments on Amendment 3, the legalization of recreational marijuana, call into question the honesty with which he is representing the amendment to his supporters.

Collier Commission echoes DeSantis (Not Trump) and Florida Sheriff's Association on opposition to pot amendment.

A 25-year-old Cape Coral man is facing homicide, robbery and other charges in connection with a fatal shooting on Three Oaks Parkway Thursday.Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno reported the arrest of Khylil Draine came Saturday.“We knew our suspect in minutes, we arrested him in hours," the sheriff said. "This case still has a lot of work, it’s a fresh case.”

In the past two years, the Biden Administration has considered changing how marijuana is categorized as a drug, from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. WGCU’s Cary Barbor spoke to the White House’s Director of National Drug Control Policy about what this might mean.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.The DEA’s proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.