U.S. Rep. Polis: New bills to legalize, tax marijuana at federal level

http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/02/20/jared-polis-regulate-marijuana-like-alcohol-act/30150/

"It is time for us to replace the failed prohibition with a regulatory system that works," Polis says.

U.S. Rep. Polis: New bills to legalize, tax marijuana at federal level
By Jordan Steffen, The Denver Post
Feb 20, 2015, 1:42 pm

For the second time in two years, Colorado Rep. Jared Polis introduced legislation Friday that would effectively legalize and tax marijuana at the federal level.

Along with Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Polis introduced two bills, the first of which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and shift regulation from the Drug Enforcement Agency to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The ATF would then regulate marijuana like alcohol.

A second bill would impose a federal excise tax on the sale of marijuana for non-medical purposes and would include an occupational tax for marijuana businesses. The excise tax would be initially set at 10 percent and over time increase to 25 percent.

“Rather than be a medicinal substance, it would be a controlled substance like alcohol and tobacco so there’s still a federal interest in enforcement,” Polis told The Denver Post on Friday. “It’s important as we head into a presidential election. We don’t know if the next president will have the same hands-off approach that Barack Obama and Eric Holder eventually found their way towards.