United States Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), along with a bipartisan coalition of three Republicans (Reps. Rohrabacher, Rep. Justin Amash [R-MI], and Don Young [R-AK]) and three Democrats (Reps. Earl Blumenauer [D-OR], Steve Cohen [D-TN] and Jared Polis [D-CO]) today introduced House Bill 1523: the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act.
The measure would amend the federal Controlled Substances Act to exempt from federal prosecution individuals and businesses, including marijuana dispensaries and/or retail outlets, who comply with state marijuana laws.
“This bipartisan bill represents a common-sense approach that establishes federal government respect for all states’ marijuana laws,” Rohrabacher said in a news release. “It does so by keeping the federal government out of the business of criminalizing marijuana activities in states that don’t want it to be criminal.”
The proposal is one of several marijuana law reform bills now pending before the United States Congress, including House Resolution 499: The Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013, House Bill 689: the States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, and Senate Bill 359: the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013.
@jimmy, agreed gun prohibition would not work. For clarification I did not sugggest that in my earlier comments. What I did say was that the Controlled Substance Act has distributed weapons to both sides of conflicts both domestic and foreign causing a cycle of violence from the unconstitutional authority for an executive agency- the DEA- to legislate a non violent drug– marijuana. I also said that allowing internet sales without a backround check exacerbates the problem.
I am a Texan, and I love my guns. But do I need to purchase another gun so easily and so fast that someone else can walk in and purchase an arsenal and start a gang war with a fake id? No, not really. I only eat what I kill, and people are all full of shit these days anyway.
Bottom line is the C.S.Act has to go. That’s our tax dollars provoking wars, selling tax payer financed wweapons to line corrupt agency budgets and the American people are sick of it. Pick any war in the last 40 years and U.S. agents were there selling weapons and confiscating assets just like the gangsters the C.S.Act let’s them be.
Let’s change that. Let’s reform the C.S.Act so that the only authority the DEA or any enforcement agency has is to help Customs regulate the flow of drugs and weapons in and out of our borders in order to protect a growing, legal hemp and marijuana economy.
Upon hearing of the initiative to legalize recreational use of cannabis for adult use in Colorado I began to prepare my resources to move there. Then I read how the colorado initiative is going to be repealed before it has had the chance to prove it’s effectiveness. Why would Colorado voters approve of an initiative and then repeal it before it is implemented? The taxation of the cannabis plant can be comparable to that of the tobacco plant, which in 2010 brought in over 17 billion dollars nationwide. This initiative to approve of adult consumption of a harmless plant is more than some ‘stoners’ wanting to get ‘high,’ It’s about the individual citizen’s right to change barbaric laws that reduce the human being’s right to self medicate. The arguement that state regulated cannabis taxation wouldn’t pay for itself is pure denial. This isn’t about some ‘stoners’ trying to get ‘high’ this is simple business of supply and demand people, with the demand for cannabis so incredibly high that there are more people in jail for possession than for any other crime nationwide. So the arguement that state regulated cannabis wouldn’t pay for itself becomes a mute point when lawmakers are trying to eliminate the bill before it has the chance to prove effective. Colorado state voter’s overwhelmingly approved this amendment to their constitution despite the federal prohibition and Considering that this is exactly why the founding fathers had allowed for individual state’s rights in the original Constitution, the opposition to one harmless plant’s use by responcible adults is still incomprehensible. This is about our social acceptance of a harmless plant which promotes greater involvement in society and provides greater health benefits than tobacco without the bitter aftertaste.
I have become convinced that the concept of “We the People” is just a fairytale bedtime story told to children. The will of the people is no longer even a secondary consideration in the minds of state and federal legislators.
Recently, Missouri has seen several ballot initiatives win by wide margins in statewide elections, only to be overturned by the governor and/or legislature. This is taking representative government a step or two too far. So what if the people have spoken? Only money and power talks, and We the People are outgunned and outspent.