Colorado\u2019s governor says that while federal marijuana legalization is the ultimate goal, incremental rescheduling and cannabis banking reform are important \u201cdominoes\u201d that could help pave the way. And he said his state continues to have \u201cvery strong conversations with the White House\u201d about the need for policy change.<\/p>\n
During a keynote speech at a National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) event in Denver on Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis (D) touted Colorado\u2019s leadership in the cannabis legalization movement, adding that \u201cwe\u2019ve been making continual progress\u201d in the decade since its market launched.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough all of that, of course, we put equity at the center of our work,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to make sure that people who have been at the short end of the drug war for decades are first in line for the kinds of opportunities that come out of a rational, regulated structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
To that end, Polis announced at an earlier event organized by the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) on Thursday that the state\u2019s Cannabis Business Office (CBO) is launching a pilot program called \u201cAccess to Experts\u201d that will provide technical assistance, compliance guidance and more to social equity marijuana businesses.<\/p>\n
He said that the services are especially necessary given the lack of cannabis industry access to such services from the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) that are available to other traditional markets.<\/p>\n
Polis also noted at the NCIA event he\u2019s been at the \u201cforefront of working with other governors to call for long overdue federal action on reclassifying marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the legalization of cannabis in Colorado, we put great regulations in place. It\u2019s long past time that the federal government reclassify it,\u201d he said. \u201cIs there more that they can do after that? Of course. But let\u2019s begin with the reclassification that will make our communities safer, expanding freedoms for people, reduce costs and taxes on cannabis businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is currently reviewing cannabis scheduling after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve also strongly been outspoken about federal legalization,\u201d the governor said. \u201cWe continue to have very strong conversations with the White House, with members of the Senate and the House and the [Food and Drug Administration] on the importance of doing this now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also noted his work to promote the passage of federal cannabis banking reform legislation, including a letter he led with 22 other governors urging congressional leaders to act on the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to do this until we get these pieces done,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen at once, but we\u2019re going to start like dominoes getting these changes to come into place so that we can better support, reduce the tax structure, remove impediments to capital formation from a legal cannabis industry in the states that have thriving cannabis sectors such as the state of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n Polis also reflected on how he used to joke about not wanting other states to enact legalization<\/a> because Colorado\u2019s market benefitted from the additional out-of-state cannabis tourism.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of other states have\u201d legalized marijuana since, he said. \u201cSo that means there\u2019s less tourism, of course, and we\u2019re a little bit less special\u2014but we are going to continue to lead in this area and double down.\u201d<\/p>\n Polis, advocates and industry stakeholders also marked the 10-year anniversary of adult-use cannabis sales in Colorado last December, with the governor saying his state \u201chas developed one of the leading regulatory systems in the world<\/a> and inspired countless others like it across the country and around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor also frequently touts the economic benefits of legalization. And to that point, Colorado has seen more than $15 billion in legal marijuana sales<\/a> since opening day a decade ago.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff (LCS) released a report in August showing that\u00a0Colorado generated more tax revenue from cannabis than alcohol or cigarettes<\/a>\u00a0during the last fiscal year<\/p>\n Another key marker of the state\u2019s regulatory success is the effectiveness of youth access restrictions, with the Colorado Department of Revenue\u2019s Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) recently touting an\u00a0ID verification compliance rate of 99 percent at the state\u2019s cannabis businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n DOJ Says State Marijuana Legalization Boosts Tourism In Court Filing Seeking Dismissal Of Industry Lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Colorado Governor Says Marijuana Rescheduling And Banking Reform Are First \u2018Dominoes\u2019 On Path To Federal Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s governor says that while federal marijuana legalization is the ultimate goal, incremental rescheduling and cannabis banking reform are important \u201cdominoes\u201d that could help pave the way. And he said his state continues to have \u201cvery strong conversations with the White House\u201d about the need for policy change. During aContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73819,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73818\/revisions\/73819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Colorado Governor Says Marijuana Rescheduling And Banking Reform Are First \u2018Dominoes\u2019 On Path To Federal Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"