Today Two Congressmen Plan to Introduce Legislation to Overhaul America’s Marijuana Laws
There is a growing movement in to change America’s pot laws, and today two Congressmen, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Or.) and Jared Polis
(D-Colo.), plan to introduce legislation to establish a tax and regulate plan for marijuana.
The Denver Post reports:
In states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. Oversight of marijuana would be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to the newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, and it would remain illegal to bring marijuana from a state where it’s legal to one where it isn’t.
The bill is based on a legalization measure previously pushed by former Reps. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Ron Paul of Texas.
This measure, if passed, could go a long way toward stemming the mass incarceration epidemic which disproportionately impacts African-American men.
“We’re still arresting two-thirds of a million people for use of a substance that a majority feel should be legal. … It’s past time for us to step in and try to sort this stuff out” Blumenauer said.
In addition, treating marijuana like alcohol could bring in much needed revenue for the federal government.
From Salon.com:
Blumenauer’s bill would create a federal marijuana excise tax of 50 percent on the “first sale” of marijuana — typically, from a grower to a processor or retailer. It also would tax pot producers or importers $1,000 annually and other marijuana businesses $500.
Blumenauer and Polis have released estimates indicating that their tax of $50 per ounce could raise $20 billion a year.
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