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| Effort building to change US pot laws |
| 2013-02-04 |
| But remember "Cannabis now a stroke risk" An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a hefty federal pot tax. While passage this year could be a longshot, lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press. Polis' measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: 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. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 And they'll get undercut by "sunshiners" growing in the national forests, because sitting out by your pot patch with an AR-15 is easier than roofing welding or road construction or being a machinist, and we're in the Second Great Depression anyway. (And it's not like the law enforcement people are stopping them now. They're going to suddenly become much more militant so Jerry Brown can get his 10%?) |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2013-02-04 22:46 |
| #4 ..and drug dealers They'll just follow the alcohol model in which they get limited wholesale licenses in the state for distribution [for continued contributions to the governing party]. Just makes the corruption more 'legit'. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-02-04 22:32 |
| #3 Taxing pot is a deal with the devil. Libertarians want to offer up the concept of taxing pot, when the only thing such a concept will do is to expand further the size scope and power of the government, already too large. |
| Posted by: badanov 2013-02-04 22:30 |
| #2 A lot of money to be make taxing pot. And a lot of entrenched interests against it, including but not limited to cops who make a living off forfeiture money, various anti-drug programs at the state and federal level, and drug dealers. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2013-02-04 22:16 |
| #1 An obvious attempt to politically destroy the Libertarians. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-02-04 22:04 |