COURT RULING IS MOOT

If I may set the record straight, 21 U.S.C. 903 already specifically
invalidates state laws contrary to the Controlled Substances Act, including
all medical marijuana laws. Last week's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court
was moot.

As long as the United States is party to the Single Convention on Narcotic
Drugs 1961 and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1972, Congress
doesn't have the authority to reschedule marijuana. Article VI of the U.S.
Constitution makes treaties entered into the law of the land de facto
constitutional amendments, which bypass the two-thirds consent of the House
of Representatives required for "real" amendments. Real or not, Congress
refers to the Controlled Substances Act several times in the act itself, as
the United States' obligation under these treaties. Congress did not make
marijuana Schedule I, and it can't change it to Schedule II.

That process, by law, must begin with a consensus of the American medical
and scientific communities, transmitted via the secretary of health and
human services to the secretary of state, who can recommend rescheduling to
the World Health Organization, and if unsuccessful, can appeal to the
United Nations Economic and Social Council (who secretly voted off the
American delegate), whose decision is final. Period.

Treaties to effectuate domestic policy over our heads must be abolished.
Bring back the Bricker Amendment!

Pete Raiteri

Eugene