Gardner, Warren push bill to protect states with legal marijuana
Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado is reaching across the aisle with a bipartisan bill introduced Thursday that would let states regulate legal marijuana without worrying about being shut down by the federal government.
Gardner introduced the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act with progressive firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. They had announced they would work together on the issue back in April.
Warren took to Twitter with a video saying “It’s time to reform America’s outdated marijuana policies” alongside Gardner.
It’s time to reform American’s outdated marijuana policies. Watch live as @SenCoryGarder and I discuss our new legislation that would let states, territories, & tribes decide for themselves how best to regulate marijuana – without federal interference. https://t.co/BVcvxomhld
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 7, 2018
The bill comes after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pushed for increased federal enforcement in states that have legalized marijuana. Back in January, he reversed a policy from the Obama Administration that let states handle regulating recreational marijuana use.
Gardner said federal finance laws are creating challenges for business owners in the marijuana industry, despite the state collecting the taxes without issue.
“The city of Denver, the state of Colorado can collect taxes [and] they can take it to the bank, but if you’re in the business … you can’t get a bank loan or set up a bank account because of the concern over the conflict between state and federal law,” Gardner said. “We need to fix this public hypocrisy.”
If passed, the bill would change the Controlled Substances Act to no longer apply to state laws regarding the “manufacture, production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery” of cannabis products.
Marijuana is currently legal recreationally in nine states and Washington, D.C.; it’s medically legal in 29 states.
