President Donald Trump has a number of complaints about cities run by Democrats—including that they smell like marijuana.
During a Friday speech commemorating Columbus Day, the president criticized the “radical left” and “dirty” Democrat-run cities.
“The sidewalks are disgusting. The streets are disgusting. They’re just in bad shape,” he said. “The doors going into stores are dirty. Everything’s dirty. It smells. It smells of marijuana and other things worse than marijuana.”
It’s not clear what Trump meant by things that smell worse than cannabis, but he also alleged that “blue-run cities” that reek of marijuana are also “where the crime is.”
Trump’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 (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III.
Under a separate order the attorney general signed, a hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III.
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.
Trump said last year that marijuana can be a “substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers”—but he also said he personally is “not going to be taking it.”
Last year, the president said that he has “heard great things having to do with medical, and I’ve heard bad things having to do with just about everything else.”
“Medical, for pain and various things, I’ve heard some pretty good things—but for other things, I’ve heard some pretty bad things,” he said.
In 2023, Trump suggested there may be a link between the use of “genetically engineered” marijuana and mass shootings.
Back in 2020 Trump claimed that marijuana “does cause an IQ problem” in people who use it.
Along the lines of his latest comments about problems in Democrat-run cities and the smell of cannabis, the White House said last year that Washington, D.C.’s local “failed policies opened the door to disorder” specifically citing “marijuana decriminalization.”
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