States Legalizing Pot Race to Define Market’s Regulation

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-06/states-legalizing-pot-race-to-define-market-s-regulation.html

Colorado and Washington are racing deadlines to set up a framework for regulating the sale of marijuana for recreational use, even as federal authorities weigh the future of the new industry.

Colorado has given its Revenue Department until July 1 to draft rules for pot farming, distribution and retailing after voters legalized possession by adults and sales in stores. Washington has set Dec. 1 as its deadline to have regulations in place.

“This is brand new and unprecedented,” said Colorado state Representative Dan Pabon, appointed to Governor John Hickenlooper’s task force to devise how to implement the law. “There’s not a lot of evidence we can look to, other than using deductive reasoning, to determine the best course.”

Both states are proceeding knowing they could be stopped at any point by the federal government, which deems marijuana a controlled substance and cracked down on state-sanctioned medical-marijuana operations in California in 2011.