In the wake of this week’s historic vote to legalize marijuana in Colorado, the state’s three Democratic U.S. House members are drafting legislation aimed at easing the tension between the new state law and longstanding federal prohibition of the drug.
Congressional staffers told the Independent that Colorado Reps Diana DeGette (CD1), Ed Perlmutter (CD7) and Jared Polis (CD2) are working independently and together on bills that would exempt states where pot has been legalized from the Controlled Substances Act.
DeGette Chief of Staff Lisa Cohen told the Independent that proposals the representatives are working on would alter section 903 of the act to allow states to establish their own marijuana laws free from federal preemption.
Colorado’s Amendment 64 passed by a wide margin on Election Day. It legalizes adult use and possession here and would establish retail marijuana sales.
The state legalized medical marijuana years ago and the industry has boomed in recent years.
– Read the entire article at The Colorado Independent.
