President Trump has backed an initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Florida

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he supports a Florida ballot initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

In a post on his Social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said he had been, and would be again, the most respected "law and order" president in US history and promised to get tough on violent crime.

"In Florida, as in many other states that have ratified it, Amendment 3 will legalize the personal use of marijuana by adults." Whether people like it or not, this will be done through voter approval, so it should be done right."

Marijuana legalization has broad support in the United States, with three-quarters of Americans living in states where marijuana is legal for recreational and medical use, or only for medical use. Polls show support for the move is particularly high among young people.

Florida voters will vote on a referendum in November to legalize recreational use of marijuana, but the initiative is opposed by Governor desantis and Republicans in some other states. Desantis said earlier that Florida already allows medical marijuana, and further loosening the policy would turn Florida into San Francisco or Chicago, "we have to keep our streets clean."

Trump urged state legislatures to responsibly enact laws to ban the use of marijuana in public places, lest Florida become like many Democratic-run places where you can smell marijuana everywhere you go.

Trump: No one should be a criminal for smoking marijuana in Florida

He also stressed that since personal marijuana use by adults is legal in many other states, no one should be criminalized in Florida.

"We don't have to destroy lives or waste taxpayer money arresting adults with small amounts of marijuana on them, and no one should have to grieve because a loved one died from marijuana laced with fentanyl." We will make America safe again!"

During the 2016 election campaign, Trump took a lenient stance on the issue, repeatedly saying he would leave the issue to local authorities. Since entering the White House, he has said little about it, but has expressed support for some of the tough rule of law positions of his attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

The administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama pursued a policy of federal tolerance. Sessions scrapped that policy in 2018, giving district attorneys more latitude to crack down on marijuana cultivation, sale and possession, but most have not.

In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced plans to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.