Years before becoming the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump was firmly in support of legalizing drugs to end the drug war.
“We’re losing badly the war on drugs”, Trump said in a 1990 Miami Herald interview. “You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.”
Over 25 years later, and how newly-elected President Trump will handle the war on drugs is yet to be seen. On the campaign trail he mostly strayed away from the subject; the comments he did make were unfortunately more aligned with a typical Republican candidate than his 1990 remarks, but what he’ll actually do as president is entirely unknown.
What is clear, however, is that there was a point when Trump supported legalization; and it was decades before it has become a mainstream issue. With this is mind, it may be worth giving Trump a chance on the issue; or at the very least it’s something to be slightly optimistic about. Of course with cabinet picks like Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, there’s also plenty of reason for pessimism.
Point being, Trump may or may not end up being a president that increases or helps diminish the drug war; but if he chooses to expand it there’s clearly no excuses, as he knew better many years ago.
