Jared Polis: An Uncommon Senator Using Common Sense
by Rick Macey
No stranger to the media spotlight, Jared Polis, Democrat from Boulder, made headlines here in Colorado and around the country- indeed, around the world- by introducing the " Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act " to the House of Representatives on February 5th.
" My colleagues increasingly see marijuana prohibition as a failed policy and are more open to changing the law," Polis said. " We need to turn this issue back over to the states. They should be allowed to choose whether or not they would like to legalize marijuana for medicinal or recreation use, if at all."
A dot-com millionaire, Polis is one of the wealthiest people in Congress. He is also openly gay and raising a toddler with his partner. He has been a forceful co-chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus.
He admitted that he would always prefer to be at home with his family in Colorado than attending meetings on Capitol Hill or giving interviews to the press. " I don’ t think I’ ve ever been in Colorado and thought to myself, ' I wish I was in DC.'"
His detractors call him " too far left " and out of touch with the American mainstream. His supporters say his politics are in the best tradition of our country ' s progressive evolution toward a more tolerant and inclusive society.
Perhaps the truth is this: Polis is trying to do what he believes is in the best interests of America and particularly his constituents in Colorado. And when it comes to cannabis issues, he is an undisputed political leader.
Marijuana reform, however, is not his number one concern on Capitol Hill.
His top legislative priorities are education, immigration reform and job creation. He has also tackled environmental issues, notably hydraulic fracturing- " fracking "- which threatens limited groundwater resources in Colorado.
He consistently opposes more government control of the Internet, including anti-piracy provisions which, in his estimation, have too much potential for inflicting harm.
Despite these other efforts, he is best known as a leading voice to end marijuana prohibition. Asked if he was uncomfortable with that association, Polis said not at all.
" If you’ re not comfortable with being in the public eye, then public service might not be a good choice," he said. " While it is sometimes frustrating to me that I can’ t get similar attention to my efforts to improve education or fix our broken immigration system, I’ m simply trying to raise what I think is an important public policy issue. If I told you there was a government program that wastes millions of dollars every year, that isn’ t effective, and that actually causes more problems than it solves, you’ d say we should end that program. Well, that’ s the policy of marijuana prohibition."
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Polis said that he isn ' t sure that recreational marijuana isn ' t unhealthy, although he said alcohol and tobacco are definitely worse health risks.
With such common sense, he is not afraid to take the initiative in congress. If there is one defining aspect of his personality besides this leadership quality, it ' s his sincerity.
Jared Polis truly believes the prohibition on cannabis- including industrial hemp- must end.
Failed federal policy. Public health issue. Decision for the states.
These three points resound again and again when Polis talks about why he is leading the charge to reform national policy on cannabis. He insists that America ' s prohibition of marijuana and agricultural hemp is absurd.
" We put ourselves at an agricultural and economic disadvantage by not allowing American farmers to grow industrial hemp," Polis said. " Hemp products are consumed across the country in clothing, dietary supplements, cosmetic products and more, but all of these products have to be imported into the U. S. By continuing to prohibit industrial hemp production— which needs to be treated as an agricultural issue, not a drug policy issue— we are missing out on a huge economic opportunity." The mood seems to be changing in Congress. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, ardent anti-cannabis Republican, recently said he wants to see hemp farming in his home state of Kentucky.
" I was pleased to see Senator McConnell come out in favor of industrial hemp deregulation, and I think it represents an unmistakable shift toward a common-sense hemp policy," Polis said.
Enter the " Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act." Legislation that, if passed, is
one for the history books, it is arguably one of the most anticipated- and perhaps overdue- legislative efforts since the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The bill( HR-499) would remove the federal ban on marijuana and allow states to decide whether they want medicinal and recreational pot. The legislation is co-sponsored by Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat. If enacted, the law will remove the authority of the Drug Enforcement Agency( DEA) over marijuana, shifting oversight to the redefined Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms.
Blumenauer added a 50 percent excise tax on the first sale of marijuana. That is similar to the tax scheme adopted by the state of Washington, Oregon ' s west coast neighbor to the north, when it legalized pot in November.
Polis said it ' s now time to regulate marijuana like alcohol and reconcile contradictory state and federal policies. The number one impetus for HR-499 is that marijuana prohibition is destructively ineffective, Polis said.
" The drug war wastes billions of dollars and has ruined lives by incarcerating people for minor offenses that should really be dealt with as public health issues," Polis said. " Like many Americans, I am fed up with the financial and human costs of the drug war and the failed policy of prohibition."
Polis said Coloradans clearly support legalizing for medicinal and recreational use as evidenced by the overwhelming support for Amendment 64 last November.
" Public opinion across the country is moving undeniably in the direction of legalization, and recent polling shows even larger bipartisan majorities in favor of leaving the issue up to the states," he said.
The key concern is how the federal government responds. That ' s precisely what HR-499 would alleviate.