Andrew Gillum Caught Up in Drug Incident at Miami Hotel

Andrew Gillum: "While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines."

Former Mayor of Tallahassee and 2018 Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum admitted that he "had too much to drink" in a Miami hotel room where police were called to deal with a possible drug overdose on March 12.

Travis Dyson, a friend of Gillum's, was in bad shape when another friend, Aldo Mejias, arrived at his room in the Mondrian South Beach hotel at 11 pm. Before Mejias called 911, Dyson collapsed on the bed and started vomiting. Gillum was throwing up too.

Gillum told a Miami Herald reporter: "I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines."

According to the Miami Beach Police incident report (see three pages below), Mejias said Gillum and Dyson were "inside the hotel room under the influence of an unknown substance." Gillum, the report noted, "was unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state."

In addition, "three clear plastic bags containing suspected crystal meth" were confiscated. Gillum apparently sobered up enough that he was allowed to leave the room and return "to his residence without incident." No one was arrested. 

About Gillam, who is 40, Dyson said: "We've been friends for a while. I personally was not celebrating a wedding. I don't know if [Gillum] was in town for a wedding. He did not mention that."

The New York Post describes Dyson as "an openly gay male escort with a profile on the website RentMen.com."

A Democrat and Miami native and resident, Gillum was Tallahassee mayor from 2015-2018. He lost a close governor race to Ron DeSantis in 2018. Gillum occasionally appears as a talking head on CNN. 

Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.