President Trump stated Monday during a White House meeting with governors that “States with a very powerful death penalty on drug dealers don’t have a drug problem.”

In a business meeting with Governors at the White House on Monday, Donald Trump spoke of the death penalty being used on drug dealers.

This marks a strange shift from stances the President has taken in the past and has left some in the community to believe that the reports on the speech to be fake news. This took place on the same day as the release of an anti-cannabis budget proposal.

Trump did sign the First Step Act into law at the end of 2018. That bill will be a step towards taking care of individuals that were in the criminal justice system for nonviolent offenses such as drug charges. It’s an applaudable thing to accomplish. Far from perfect, but it is as it’s titled, the first step.

This bit of the speech though raises some flags with members of the cannabis community. Understandably so as well. Looking at history, a nation with strong drug charges featuring the death penalty is the Republic of the Philippines. The nation has made waves over the past 4 to 5 years as it’s strict drug policies have led to innocent people being kidnapped and killed by national police forces, such as Jee Ick Joo. The individual was a South Korean foreign national.

Trump stated, “I don’t know that our country is ready for that, but if you look throughout the world, the countries with a powerful death penalty — death penalty — with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China.”

This was just eight days after a Super Bowl ad that highlighted how President Donald Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Johnson, a 63-year-old in prison for s conspiracy to possess cocaine and attempted possession of cocaine. Her pardon was something Kim Kardashian lobbied for in the Oval Office. The speech Trump gave these governors though, suggests that Johnson be executed for her crimes.

To praise China is a bit off as well when the state department has this posted on their website, “The Chinese legal system can be opaque and the interpretation and enforcement of local laws arbitrary. The judiciary does not enjoy independence from political influence. U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China should be aware of varying levels of scrutiny to which they will be subject from Chinese local law enforcement and state security.”

As a final note, something needs to be made abundantly clear. The purpose of this site and it’s news articles are to inform the public on news that involves cannabis directly or indirectly. Regardless of party, we will call out bad actors or statements made that are counter to legalizing cannabis and keeping people from being imprisoned for a victimless crime. As well, we like to report on positive news if it arises, regardless of the party. We welcome anyone to submit to Texas Cannabis Collective any information that they have about elected officials or industry issues whether it be good or bad on the issue of cannabis.