THE U.S. DOES HAVE AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT DRUG USAGE,
AND THE PEOPLE CAN'T CHANGE THAT

I read Jonathan Hoffman's article, "Shouldn't
Property Rights Trump the War on Drugs?" (Guest Commentary, Oct. 18).
He states that "the federal government employs insane enforcement
policies for laws that it has no authority to enact." He then goes on
to state that "the federal government lacks ... the legal authority to
engage in drug prohibition." Unfortunately, Hoffman is dead wrong in
his uneducated assumption. The United States of America, at least the
last time I checked, is a member of the United Nations, and a
signatory to the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

As the United States is a signatory to this international treaty, it
falls under the auspices of Article 6 of the United States
Constitution, which reads, in part, "This Constitution, and the laws
of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme law of the land."

It would appear as if the government not only has the right to enforce
these laws, but is also required to enforce them under international
law.

As much as many millions of otherwise law-abiding, contributing
members of society, including me, might want to just relax and smoke
some harmless marijuana, we are prohibited from doing so. We are also
angered because we can't change the law, and we refuse to respect
those who have led us to believe we could.

Mike Carey