Congressmen seek to legalize pot at federal level

If passed, it would mean that states would be free to set their own marijuana policies without the threat of federal intervention, which is currently the greatest hurdle to the pot industries in Colorado and Washington, which legalized the adult recreational use of marijuana by wide margins in November.

“Americans have increasingly come to the conclusion that the drug war is a failed policy,” Polis said. “Americans are sick and tired of the cost of the war on drugs, whether we’re talking about the financial costs in a time of deficits or whether we’re talking about the human costs.”

Polis said there has been an “enormous evolution” in public sentiment toward marijuana and that legalization is “an idea whose time has come.”