RIGHTS OF STATES

Whether states should allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes is an
interesting question, but whether the federal government should tell them
they can't is no question.

The federal government has no such right.

The federal government asserts the right on the basis of the Constitution's
interstate commerce clause, which exists to facilitate national commerce
across state lines without interference from the states. But the states
permitting marijuana to be used medicinally specify that the marijuana must
be grown locally, not transported over state lines. Next to no money is
involved in its sale.

The interstate commerce clause has been used to justify a vast number of
extensions of federal power even when there has been no connection to commerce.

This is not only a fraudulent misuse of constitutional language, but a
negation of important rights reserved to the states. The people of this
land are made less free by the trickery.

The case is now before the Supreme Court, and during a hearing the other
day, you could hear the justices worrying about such issues as federal
regulatory authority and whether medical marijuana will be a means for
furthering black markets in recreational marijuana.

Get off it, court. Your job is constitutional interpretation, and that
means interpreting the commerce clause, and if you really believe in the
Constitution, you have just one option. Let the states do as they please.