Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper says the only way to stay on the federal government’s good side in the fight against cannabis is to “regulate the living daylights out of it.”
The democrat told Cheddar in an interview Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ negative stance towards marijuana creates friction between state and federal authorities.
“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “If states really are the laboratories of democracy, [legalization] is a huge social experiment going on all across the country.”
That friction only creates uncertainty in the cannabis industry, leaving business leaders in a lurch.
“[But Sessions] wants that uncertainty, he wants it to be bad for business,” said Hickenlooper.
In order to maintain a positive relationship with the federal government, states like Colorado have to make sure there’s no risk of funny business, so opponents won’t be able to make a case against them.
“We’re going to make sure that it is not corrupt, we don’t have gangs, we don’t have cartels, we are really going to work as hard as we can to make this…clean and above board,” Hickenlooper explained, pointing out that Colorado’s cannabis industry is currently worth $1.5 billion a year and “there’s taxes collected” on that.
In 2012, Colorado became one of the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.
“You can’t have laws that nobody obeys,” he said. “It’s just not good for society.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-one-thing-that-wakes-colorado-governor-john-hickenlooper-up-at-night).
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