In 2014, the latest statistics that I have seen,
there was 620,000 arrests
for marijuana possession
that is one arrest every minute.
According to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union,
there were more than eight million marijuana arrests
in the United States from 2001 to 2010.
Almost nine in ten of those arrests
were for possession.
Arrests for marijuana possession 
rose last year nationwide,
even as Colorado, Washington, Oregon,
Alaska, and the District of Columbia
became the first states to legalize
personal use of marijuana.
And let us be clear.
As is the case in many other areas,
that there is a racial component to this situation.
Although about the same proportion 
of blacks and whites
use marijuana,
a black person is almost
four times more likely to be arrested
for marijuana possession
than a white person.
Too many Americans
have seen their lives destroyed
because they have criminal records
as a result of marijuana use.
That is wrong. That has got
to change.
[Applause]
Let's be clear, but I think a lot of
people may not have fully appreciated this,
is that a criminal record
could mean not only time in jail,
but a criminal records makes it
harder for a person to get a job,
harder for a person to get public benefits,
harder for a person to even get housing.
A criminal record stays with a person 
for his or her entire life.
It is a serious business.
Right now, 
marijuana is listed
by the federal government 
as a schedule 1 drug,
meaning that it is considered to be
as dangerous as heroin.
That is absurd.
[Applause]
In my view,
the time is long overdue 
for us to remove the federal prohibition
on marijuana.
[Applause]
In my view, states
should have the right to regulate marijuana,
the same way that state local laws
now govern the sale of alcohol
and tobacco
[Applause]
And among other things,
that means recognized businesses
in states that have legalized marijuana
should be fully able to use the banking system
without fear of federal prosecution.
[Applause]
In addition,
in those states that decide to go forward,
and I'm not here advocating that states
do it,
that is the decision of the individual states
within our federal system.
But those states that choose to go forward
can then tax alcohol
like they can tax marijuana,
like they tax alcohol and cigarettes and in fact
earn a substantial amount of money.
Colorado is making right now about fifty million dollars
a year through the taxation of marijuana.
[Applause]
And in Colorado, and I believe other states,
some of that revenue is being used
to fight the effects of substance abuse of hard drugs,
like opiates, that are harming so many communities.
In the year 2015,
it is time for the federal government
to allow states to go forward as they best choose.
It is-
[Applause]
It is time to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.
It is time to end the arrests of so many people,
and the destruction of so many lives,
for possessing marijuana.
