Marijuana Could Soon be Regulated Like Alcohol in All 50 States

[workinclasszero]

Marijuana Could Soon be Regulated Like Alcohol in All 50 States
By Janice Williams On 3/31/17 at 9:56 AM

In eight states and Washington D.C., adults can legally consume marijuana—and that could soon change to adults in all 50 states. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) recently introduced a bill that would make marijuana federally legal and allow the plant to be regulated as alcohol is in the U.S.

Under the new bill, called the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, the plant would be removed from its Schedule I listing on the Controlled Substances List and would be regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Adults 21 and up would be able to purchase and consume cannabis legally across the nation. Advertising rules similar to those regarding alcohol would also apply to marijuana under the bill.

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act is part of a package of three cannabis-related bills introduced Thursday by members of the Cannabis Caucus in the House of Representatives, of which Polis is a member along with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who also sponsored the measures.

http://www.newsweek.com/pot-legal-marijuana-could-soon-be-regulated-alcohol-all-50-states-577222

[HoneyBadger]

1. I would rather see weed unregulated

It is far better for you than alcohol

[MicaelS]

12. Hell no, tax the shit out of it.

Treat it just like wine. Make a certain amount for your own use, beyond that you have to buy a tax stamp to be a producer.

[GWC58]

2. Could, but

probably won't.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Interesting bill.

Obviously, Colorado wants other states to keep weed illegal, because weed tourism is big business for them. I am betting they are afraid that the DOJ under Sessions will go after Colorado and kill their weed tourism industry. This bill is designed to keep that from happening. And then Colorado will do what the gambling industry does--send its lobbyists to states like Texas to pay state legislators to keep weed illegal in order to keep up weed tourism in Colorado.

[GWC58]

4. At the expense of

citizens that want legal cannabis. Sounds about right.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

8. As the beer and booze lobbyists do now...

.. in every state where the legislature is considering marijuana regulation.

[MountainFool]

9. Wtf?!!

Sorry, but wtf? Did you read the article?

And while I haven't always supported Jared Polis, he has always stood for making weed legal - and not just in Colorado! This bill makes it legal nationwide and would solve many of the current issues with state law conflicting with federal statutes. E.g. while 420 is big business here, managing the cash is very difficult because the banks can't just thumb their noses at the fact that it's still illegal from a federal perspective.

Making up stuff ("keep weed illegal in order to keep up weed tourism in Colorado&quot is not what I expect on DU.

If you have any evidence that Polis wants to keep Colorado a legal island to promote tourism, please site your sources.

[politicat]

11. Thank you.

and my addition: the citizens of Colorado and Washington took huge risks and worked very long and hard to make legalization possible. We are still facing difficulties in terms of banking and finance. The industries, infrastructure, and research we and the other six states are building are the payoff for the work it took to get here.

If other states want legalization, we have built a successful model to follow, but it requires citizens in those states to do their own damn work. Don't blame us for your failure to build your own industry. That's all on you. If you don't like the way your state handles marijuana, you have two choices -- do the work to make your state change its laws, or move. But the resentment on display above? That's the same attitude that leads the MAGA-ites to want the destruction of social services which devastate their own communities, but they prefer devastation as long as means "those people" get it worse. It's ugly and it's unworthy of decency.

Are we happy to have the pot tourism? Mostly, but we've always had tourism, and other state legalization hasn't changed why people come here. Texans were coming here long before legalization, and we're still dealing with them now, and I assume they'll continue to be annoying even when they can smoke bowls in their own houses. The majority of our production is consumed by our citizens, not tourists. It's generally good for the economy --but we're pretty diverse anyway, and we're extremely well educated -- and absolutely wretched for people who moved here to pursue experimental therapy but can't find housing and are separated from their support networks. We'd much rather each state legalized so families don't have to move 1000 miles and hope they can find a place, jobs, and new social networks, and we'd be very, very happy if the Rusty-Farm belt would legalize because they have an opiate problem, and we have the research that proves legalized pot is a valuable tool for preventing opiate deaths and reducing addiction. Federal legalization won't change our attractiveness.

[sarcasmo]

5. Beauregard won't allow this bill to pass.

[welivetotreadonkings]

6. Also: Big Pharma, Rehab industry, booze manufacturers, etc.

[lies]

7. Not likely

The AG thinks marijuana is only slightly better than heroin.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Cannabis will be legal & regulated across Canada by July 2018. . . . nt