Marijuana Moment: GOP Senator Claims Marijuana Is A ‘Gateway Drug,’ Voicing Opposition To Trump’s Rescheduling Order

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A GOP senator says his opposition to marijuana reform—and his conviction that cannabis is a “gateway drug”—hasn’t changed even after President Donald Trump signed a rescheduling order.

Asked about the president’s directive to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Marijuana Moment that cannabis is a “gateway drug” and that his position is informed by the fact that his brother died from a drug overdose.

Scott said he does “understand medicinal marijuana,” which voters in his state legalized via a constitutional amendment at the ballot in 2016.

The senator, who previously served as Florida’s governor, also noted that a separate initiative to legalize recreational cannabis on the 2024 ballot failed to reached the 60 percent threshold needed to be enacted—though it did get majority support.

Pressed on Trump’s assertion that rescheduling cannabis would free up research and whether he’d support the policy change in that respect, Scott said simply: “Why don’t we just do the research?”

Scott was among a group of GOP lawmakers who sent a letter last month challenging the marijuana rescheduling push, urging the Trump administration to trash the policy proposal.

Ahead of a vote on a Florida ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult use—which gained majority support but not enough to reach a 60 percent threshold—the senator pledged to do everything he could to defeat it.

The campaign behind that initiative has mounted another push for the ballot, but activists have faced complications amid litigation and invalidated signatures from the state.

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As far as federal rescheduling is concerned, a bipartisan majority of American voters across nearly all major demographics—age, race, gender and political affiliation—support legalizing marijuana, according to a new poll released just days after Trump issued the executive order.

The latest poll from the Daily Mail is generally consistent with the growing bipartisanship around marijuana legalization, but another recent survey from YouGov showed Republicans evenly divided on the issue, with 41 percent in favor and 41 percent against the broader reform.

The rescheduling process initiated by the Biden administration, which Trump has now asked to be finalized, is still pending. Congressional researchers also recently released a report noting that there’s a chance the Justice Department could opt to start the process all over again, or even not complete it at all. But as prior polling has indicated, it’s a politically popular reform across the aisle.

The president said last month that cannabis can “make people feel much better” and serve as a “substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers.” He clarified, however, that he personally has no interest in using marijuana himself.

Trump also dismissed the concerns of GOP lawmakers who oppose rescheduling, pointing out that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the reform and that cannabis can help people—including his personal friends—who are suffering from serious health issues.

The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. 

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