Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said his state’s success in building a regulated market for marijuana has buttressed the case for legalization across the country and legislation to create tax and banking opportunities.

The governor wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate’s top pot legislators urging Congress to pass the SAFE Banking Act to allow banks and other financial institutions to serve cannabis businesses.

Colorado has struggled with the issue since recreational marijuana went on sale in 2014. Banks balk because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.

The letter from Polis was addressed to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.-N.Y., along with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

The three introduced legislation, called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, in July to support federal legalization.

“The War on Drugs has been a war on people – particularly people of color,” they stated. “Ending the federal marijuana prohibition is necessary to right the wrongs of this failed war and end decades of harm inflicted on communities of color across the country. But that alone is not enough. As states continue to legalize marijuana, we must also enact measures that will lift up people who were unfairly targeted in the War on Drugs.”

Polis’ letter is part of Colorado’s public comment on the pending legislation.

”  hope that you will first focus your efforts on the two biggest barriers to the success of the cannabis industry: banking and IRS Code Section 280E (280E),” Polis wrote. “Legislation to address these issues has more bipartisan support than ever before and can be passed in the short-term as you continue to work on the details of the CAOA.”

He urged the federal lawmakers to look to Colorado as an example of a “well-regulated and flourishing marijuana marketplace.”

Polis said that last year legal cannabis produced $387 million in state tax revenue to support education, health care, substance abuse prevention and treatment, law enforcement, research and other needs.

He urged regulatory deference to states that have already created a working market. Recreational marijuana is legal in 19 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam.

“While Congress needs to pass CAOA and deschedule cannabis, we do not want federal legislation to simply replace our carefully crafted state regulatory systems and accidentally destabilize state markets,” he wrote. “As the CAOA draft evolves, I hope the bill sponsors will carefully consider how the implementation of a comprehensive federal cannabis regime will interplay with already successful state regimes.”

Read the full letter by clicking here.