[Source: BBC]

Donald Trump has signalled that he will vote in favour of legalising marijuana for personal use in his home state of Florida, ahead of a ballot on the issue in November.

Medicinal marijuana was made legal in Florida in 2016.

Cannabis for both personal and medical use is legal in 24 US states, according to the Pew Research Centre. A further 14 states have legalised medical marijuana.

The proposal is one of several amendments Florida residents will vote on in November at the same time as the US chooses its new president. Trump is running against incumbent vice president and Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris.

Marijuana was legalised in Illinois in 2020 and between January and July this year, cannabis sales reached more than $1bn (£760m), according to state government statistics.

In California, where personal use was legalised in 2016, marijuana sales reached $4.4bn last year.

However, it is not clear how those figures compare to black market sales of cannabis which, according to some, still thrives.

Legalised growers and sellers have to get permits and pay tax, which can prove costly and risk making their cannabis more expensive.

Trump has already caused some confusion about a different amendment that will be on Florida’s ballot in November. On Friday he said he would vote against a measure in Florida that would protect abortion rights, after facing backlash from conservative supporters.

Abortion is banned in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy – the amendment proposes expanding that to 24 weeks. Trump had initially signalled support for the proposal.

His campaign later claimed he had not said how he would vote in ballot, simply that he thought that the six week period was “too short”. The following day, Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago estate is in Palm Beach, Florida, said he would be voting “no”.