Oklahoma, Nebraska Challenge Colorado Marijuana Legalization

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All sin taxes should be done away with since they have been proven ineffective in curbing the consumption of the products they are taxing. The ATF should be abolished as tobacco & alcohol don't need federal oversight or regulation. These should be state regulated. And are they really using the taxes for the stated purpose? Isn't Colorado's tobacco tax used to fund child healthcare? The MJ tax is for schools. None of the taxes are being used to address the negative social aspects of the products.

We need to stop adding power and taxation ability to the federal government. If the feds would decriminalize MJ, the states would be free to do as their citizens see fit. But then why should a product that is legal in 1 state be illegal in others. I don't see how state gun laws pass this test. A piece of plastic in WY is legal, but not in CO.

In principal, I 100% agree, but the facts of the reality we deal with now are a whole other story. ie It'll never happen under current governmental and societal status.

Simply put the only way the majority of people in this country (and more so those in government) would go for it is under similar regulation as Alcohol and Tobacco, and with that similar regulation will come similar or more taxation.

Look at how long it took for it to be taxed in CO, on ballot initiative no less, imagine if it went federally, it wouldn't make it a day past legalization and the House would introduce an excise tax bill on it, if it wasn't already included in the decriminalization bill.

It's just the reality of the situation we live in, do I wish it were different, absolutely. I wish the EPA, BATFE, USDA, DEA, TSA, FEMA, most of the FBI and IRS (if not all), and most every other federal government agency were disbanded tomorrow, as honestly they don't have a charter in the constitution for their existence, but I guarantee that's not going to happen anytime soon, and if it ever does happen, it's not going to be a fun road to get there.

As to the part of your post that I put in bold, basically they pass the smell test because of the way the constitution was written and intended, it's a set of restrictions on the federal government, not the individual states, and unless it's specifically listed as a function of the federal government it's left to the states. So in the first half of that statement as regards to pot, you have it right in how it's supposed to be, however the gun issue has been tested in the SC many times and the SC seems to think that shall not be infringed doesn't necessarily apply to all forms of arms, and it's why we have to have organizations like the NRA and our fight never seems to end. By strict letter of the constitution, the GCA and NFA are simply unconstitutional (because they are federal), but somewhere along the line that's been lost.