By:Jay Syrmopoulos..
Washington, D.C. – Two bills were introduced on Friday,
February 20, in the U.S. House of Representatives, that would legalize and tax
adult-use marijuana federally.
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis introduced H.R. 1013, the “Regulate
Marijuana Like Alcohol Act.” The bill calls for states to be allowed to choose
to legalize cannabis if they choose without having to worry about repercussions
from the federal government.
The bill would also create a new regulatory structure by
removing marijuana from the Schedule set by the Controlled Substance Act.
Currently, cannabis is considered a Schedule 1 drug, which classifies it as
having “no currently accepted medical use.”
The legislation calls for marijuana oversight to be
transferred from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Marijuana would be regulated similarly to
alcohol by inserting it into the section of the U.S. Code that covers
“intoxicating liquors.”
“Over the past year, Colorado has demonstrated that
regulating marijuana like alcohol takes money away from criminals and cartels,
grows our economy, and keeps marijuana out of the hands of children,” said Rep.
Polis.
Polis added, “While President Obama and the Justice
Department have allowed the will of voters in states like Colorado and 22 other
jurisdictions to move forward, small business owners, medical marijuana
patients, and others who follow state laws still live with the fear that a new
administration – or this one—could reverse course and turn them into criminals.
It is time for us to replace the failed prohibition with a regulatory system
that works and let states and municipalities decide for themselves if they
want, or don’t want, to have legal marijuana within their borders.”
A separate bill forwarded by Earl Blumenauer, H.R. 1014, the
“Marijuana Tax Revenue Act of 2015” would create a tax on all non-medical
sales. IT would allow the industry to move from the fringes of society into the
mainstream, lowering crime by reducing the black market.
The legislation would establish civil and criminal penalties
for those who fail to comply, like those in place for the tobacco industry. In
addition, it would require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to conduct
studies of the marijuana industry and issue recommendations to Congress.
Medical marijuana would be exempted from the new marijuana
tax structure. The tax on non-medicinal marijuana would initially be set at 10%
and rise to 25% over time as the black market is displaced by the legal market.
The tax structure incorporates a tax on the sale by a producer (usually grower)
to the next stage of production.
“It’s time for the federal government to chart a new path
forward for marijuana,” said Representative Blumenauer. “Together these bills
create a federal framework to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana, much like
we treat alcohol and tobacco. The federal prohibition of marijuana has been a
failure, wasting tax dollars and ruining countless lives. As more states move
to legalize marijuana as Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Alaska have done,
it’s imperative the federal government become a full partner in building a
workable and safe framework.”
The drug war has been a complete and abject failure, used as
a means to grow the police state. This is a strong first step towards righting
the wrongs of the past 30 years.
Almost 50% of the U.S. population have tried marijuana in
their lives, and recent opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support legalizing cannabis for adults.
The time has come to stop wasting federal tax dollars on
enforcing marijuana prohibition. Far too many innocent lives have been
destroyed due to the “War on Drugs.”
This legislation brings an opportunity for America to begin
to forge a new path forward. Let’s spread the word about this common sense
legislation and create a more just reality. The time has indeed come for a more
common sense approach to marijuana.
Contact your representative immediately and let them know
you support H.R 1013 and H.R. 1014.
Please share this
information with your fellow Americans!
Source:thefreethoughtproject.com
