By Trump’s Columbus Day Remarks
President Donald Trump said during a Friday speech commemorating Columbus Day that cities run by Democrats smell like marijuana. During the speech, the president criticized what he called the “radical left” and “dirty” Democrat-run cities.
“The sidewalks are disgusting. The streets are disgusting. They’re just in bad shape,” Trump said.
“The doors going into stores are dirty. Everything’s dirty. It smells.
It smells of marijuana and other things worse than marijuana.”
It is not clear what Trump meant by things that smell worse than cannabis. He also alleged that “blue-run cities” that reek of marijuana are also “where the crime is.”
Rescheduling Moves Forward
The president’s cannabis odor complaint comes as his administration is moving forward with the process of federally rescheduling marijuana. Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration, from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III.
Under a separate order the attorney general signed, a hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. The president’s remarks about the smell of marijuana in Democrat-run cities came in the same year that his administration has advanced these rescheduling steps.
Trump’s History of Cannabis Comments
The president has a long history of comments about cannabis and has mostly praised its medical potential while often expressing concerns about broader use. Earlier this year he said that marijuana is the “best of all the alternatives” for people suffering from certain medical conditions.
