Ten Years After Weed Became Legal In Colorado, Sen. Hickenlooper Introduces Federal Legalization Bill

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), who was Colorado’s governor when the state became the first in the union to legalize recreational marijuana, formally introduced a bill calling for federal marijuana legalization. 

At the time, Hickenlooper was actually against legalization but over the years, he changed his perspective and started to generally back the reform.

Hickenlooper said in a press release that “a decade after Colorado pioneered marijuana legalization, Americans overwhelmingly support the same at the federal level. This bipartisan, bicameral framework, based on Colorado’s Amendment 64 Task Force, will replicate our success nationally.”

A decade after Colorado pioneered marijuana legalization, Americans overwhelmingly support the same at the federal level.
Our PREPARE Act will create a bipartisan, bicameral framework, based on Colorado’s Amendment 64 Task Force, and will replicate our success nationally.

— Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick) December 2, 2022

In October, he previewed the legislation at an event marking the 10th anniversary of marijuana legalization in Colorado and formally announced his intention to introduce it last month.

What’s In The Bill?

The "Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment (PREPARE) Act" would direct the Attorney General of the United States to establish the ‘Commission on the Federal Regulation of Cannabis’ to advise on the development of a regulatory framework modeled after the Federal and State regulatory frameworks with respect to alcohol.

The new congressional measure Hickenlooper’s sponsoring would “provide lawmakers across the ideological spectrum the opportunity to engage on cannabis reform by creating a fair, honest and publicly transparent process for the federal government to establish effective regulation to be enacted upon the termination of its 85-year prohibition of cannabis,” according to a summary.

The proposal is identical to a measure introduced by Congressman Dave Joyce (R-OH) in April, with congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Brian Mast (R-FL) “to better prepare the federal government for the inevitable end to cannabis prohibition,” stated Rep. Joyce at that time.

A Bipartisan Agreement

The PREPARE Act seeks to facilitate the bipartisan consensus necessary to legalize marijuana at a federal level.

“I’m thrilled that the PREPARE Act has been introduced in the Senate, making it not only further bipartisan, but bicameral, and bringing it one step closer to becoming law,” Joyce said.

“This legislation gives lawmakers on both sides of the aisle the answers they need to effectively engage on cannabis reform, safely and effectively regulate it, and remedy the harms caused by the failed war on cannabis,” he concluded.

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Photo: Courtesy Of Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash