CULT OF CALHOUN

A Different Spin On The Ashcroft's Assisted Suicide Move.

Attorney general John Ashcroft moved, it is said, to "overturn" Oregon's
law permitting assisted suicide. Critics, mostly liberals, say that his
action demonstrates that conservatives are hypocrites when they defend
states' rights. But that appearance is solely the result of an imprecise
formulation. What Ashcroft has done is to say, in effect, Look, Oregon
voters can decide what the State of Oregon will or will not prosecute. But
they cannot nullify federal law. And federal law prohibits doctors from
using drugs to kill people deliberately. For the same reason, state
referenda cannot legalize the medical use of marijuana; they can only
register disagreement with the federal prohibition. Opponents of federal
drug law should work to repeal or amend that law. Until that time, the
question to ponder is not whether conservatives have abandoned
federalism-but whether liberals, in taking up the cause of nullification,
should pay homage to John C. Calhoun.