MEDICAL POT RULING TRAMPLES STATES' RIGHTS

Justices Reinforce Government's Misguided War on Marijuana

Principle and compassion went out the door in the Supreme Court ruling
that the federal government has the right to ignore state law
governing medical marijuana use.

The court ruled 6-3 in a California case that federal authorities have
the right to prosecute those who grow and use marijuana for medicinal
purposes, even in those states where voters and lawmakers have
approved the medical use of marijuana.

In doing so, the court sanctions the irrational fervor with which the
federal government is pressing its campaign against marijuana, even
absent compelling evidence that the harm from pot is any worse than
that caused by alcohol or tobacco.

At the same time, the justices reinforce that the drug war is a
compelling reason for the federal government to intrude on areas of
the law that are constitutionally reserved for the states.

The California case involved defendants who were growing marijuana for
their personal, medical use. The marijuana was not being sold or
transported across state lines, and medical use is legal in
California. The Commerce Clause of the Constitution should not have
applied because this was a local, non-commercial product confined to
one state.

Residents of a state should have the right to decide how to regulate
the use of medical marijuana.

While there is no conclusive scientific evidence of the effectiveness
of marijuana in treating pain and the side effects of chemotherapy,
many of those who use it for these purposes say it helps. Given that
often these patients are battling for their lives, anything that helps
them with the fight ought to be welcomed.

But the drug warriors see medical marijuana as the first step toward
legalizing pot, and perhaps other illicit drugs.

Marijuana is lumped in with cocaine, heroin and other dangerous,
life-threatening narcotics, even though it has not been proven to be
lethal, nor has it been proven to be any more likely to lead to the
abuse of hard drugs than social drinking is to lead to alcoholism.

Still, taxpayers spend nearly $8 billion annually to combat marijuana.
And now the Supreme Court has stretched the Constitution to its limits
to allow the federal government to thwart the will of the states
regarding medical marijuana use.

The justices, with this ruling, risk denying suffering Americans
relief and open the door to unlimited federal intrusion on state matters.