SUPREME STUPIDITY

The Supreme Court's cannabis ruling is wrong and so are the rumors
surrounding it

As an herbalist, I want to show my support for cannabis as an important
medicinal herb, and clarify a few points about the recent Supreme Court
decision regarding the Oakland Cannabis Buyers club, and others like it.

Lots of misinformation is going around in the wake of this decision, often
fueled by the press, which does not present the facts, but merely
sensationalism.

Rumor Number 1: The Supreme Court decision repeals the Compassionate Use
Act of California, which the voters resolved by choosing by a landslide
Proposition 215 for the state of California. The Supreme Court of the
United States cannot repeal a state law, they can only make judgments based
on federal laws on a case by case basis.

Rumor Number 2: This Supreme Court decision will close down all cannabis
buyers clubs in the state of California and other states. No, it
effectively closes down the Oakland CBC, since that is the only case which
was before the court, having appealed to the highest federal court on a
specific charge.

Rumor Number 3: This decision means that the federal government and federal
agencies can essentially override any laws enacted by the voters of any
state, no matter that the voting state residents clearly by majority don't
want that to happen. No, according to the constitution of the United
States, the state themselves are sovereign nations, if you will, and the
Federal government is in place only to serve them, not the other way around.

Rumor Number 4: You can't fight the Feds; they always get what they want.
No, the war is not over. The Federal government does not have the right,
whether or not its agents believe they do, to establish martial law
regarding a state health and safety code, when there is no clear and
present danger to the citizens themselves.

This is a health and safety code, not felony murder, rape or, kidnapping.
In fact, the Federal government is responsible for imprisoning sick and
dying patients, who only want to have their pain alleviated and their lives
extended.

There are several fundamental issues at stake here.

One is the individual's right to take care of themselves and their own
bodies with the assistance of their physician. Another is the individual's
right to grow and use a medicinal herb which has brought healing and relief
to a multitude of documented conditions.

The individual has the God-given right to grow whatever plants they want on
the premises of the home and property. In my garden, I grow herbs like
lavender and fever few for headaches; rosemary, sage, parsley, and other
culinary herbs for cooking; and honeysuckle and jasmine for their fragrance
and medicinal uses.

Cannabis is a medicinal herb like any other, and it has been documented to
alleviate the suffering of conditions such as migraine, asthma, epilepsy,
the AIDS wasting syndrome, chronic neurological pain, clinical depression,
anxiety disorders, and many more.

We, as citizens needs to stand up and be heard on a continual basis, to
guard ourselves against the very things that authors of the Constitution
had the foresight to specify and purposely separated the three branches of
government to keep each other in check.

This does not take away our own personal responsibility to hold our
government accountable for protecting our rights, not abusing or taking
them away.

Ali Jordan-Arnold lives in Morro Bay.