Colorado and Washington, Not So Fast!

Yesterday, the second most popular topic of conversation was the legalization of marijuana in the states of Colorado and Washington.  My phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if it was true.  I kinda thought I might have heard the rustling of potato chip bags in the background, but I didn't press.

There were talks of the Great Migration, when African Americans left the rural South for a more urbanized North, Midwest, and West.  The weed-heads "predicted" that like minds would be looking to move West to reach the "land of freedom," where they could enjoy their vice of choice without fear of consequence.  Before they went online in search of employment opportunities in Colorado or Washington, I had to be the bearer of bad news:

Despite the poll results, recreational marijuana is still illegal according to federal law!

That's the tricky thing about state and federal laws; when they contradict each other, federal law trumps. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper says that the government has to respect the will of the voters and that the process will be complicated, but he intends to follow through.

Voters in Washington saw legalization of recreational marijuana as a solution the problem of tax revenue woes. Their referendum called for a 25% tax imposed on the product 3 TIMES, and they STILL passed it!  Now, those are some people that really want to smoke.  Then again, the fact that they didn't remember that it is against federal law probably means that they're smoking anyway.