'It’s a Schedule 1 drug. Who today thinks its more dangerous than cocaine or meth?' Earl Blumenauer says. Pols promote marijuana legalization

Two Congressmen on Tuesday unveiled a plan to end the federal prohibition on marijuana, the first such legislation introduced since voters in Colorado and Washington broke new ground by voting in November to legalize the drug.

“We’re in a situation now where our current federal policies regarding marijuana are hopelessly out-of-date,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, told POLITICO. “It’s a Schedule 1 drug. Who today thinks its more dangerous than cocaine or meth?”


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Blumenauer is introducing a bill to tax marijuana. Legislation introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) would end federal marijuana prohibition, regulating the drug the same way the federal government regulates alcohol sales — by the states.

In a report released Tuesday, the congressman laid out a broader, five-part agenda: Removing the federal ban on marijuana and taxing the drug the same way Congress regulates and taxes alcohol; allowing states to offer medical marijuana without federal interference; ending the ban on industrial hemp; eliminating tax and banking barriers that prevent marijuana businesses from operating legally and creating a “Sensible Drug Policy Working Group” in Congress to push the other four ideas.

While their ideas have been proposed in the past — most prominently by retired congressmen Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Ron Paul of Texas — both men were confident an end to marijuana prohibition was just over the horizon. Beyond the drug’s legalization in Colorado and Oregon, polls now show a majority of voters support legalizing pot, and a December Gallup poll found 64 percent want the federal government to leave decisions on the drug to the states.

“Public opinion is there on this issue,” Polis said on a conference call with reporters. “Public opinion is leading. It’s just a matter of Congress catching up.”

Blumenauer, who was a freshman member of the Oregon state legislature when it voted to decriminalize small amounts of the drug in 1971, said he was confident at least one element of their plan — ending a ban on industrial hemp production — could pass this year. (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose home state of Kentucky would benefit, recently endorsed such a move.) The other elements are mere years away.

“I’m absolutely confident all the pieces we’re advancing will be approved this decade,” Blumenauer said. “That’s where America is going.”

The two pieces of legislation introduced Tuesday would end the federal prohibition on the drug (which would remain illegal for recreational use in 48 states) and create a system to tax it. Blumenauer said the tax could raise $100 billion over the next decade, which would go to paying down the deficit, drug treatment and law enforcement.

The two congressman also said they are working with a larger, bipartisan group of around 20 members on marijuana issues, and expect about 12 pieces of legislation to be introduced over the course of the 113th Congress. While neither Blumenauer nor Polis would name names, a spokeswoman for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) confirmed he was working on similar legislation.

Blumenauer said a key element of the legislation was allowing existing medical marijuana business — fully one-third of the country now lives in a state where medical marijuana is legal — into the full economy. Right now, banks will generally refuse to work with these companies, fearing the wrath of the federal government. This deprives the businesses of capital and forces them to deal exclusively in cash.

“This is a legal business under California, Oregon law — 19 jurisdictions, and we’re going to force it to be all cash?” he told POLITICO. “That’s an invitation for tax evasion, it’s an invitation for money laundering, robbery. And almost anyone you talk to agrees with that.”

The duo also said federal arrests for marijuana possession were still too common, totaling 660,000 in 2011.

“The president when pressed on the issue, famously said he had bigger fish to fry,” Blumenauer said. “The truth is, farther down the federal drug enforcement food chain, there are still people frying these small fish.”