STATE POWER IS NOT AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S WHIM

I take issue with retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Gary
Fouse's characterization of the Tenth Amendment. He paraphrases it as
"any laws not covered by federal law are left to the states" ["Drug
laws," Reader rebuttals, March 4].

This is false. The Tenth Amendment reads: "The powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people."

Thus the Constitution provides that the states retain power not
specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution, not
by federal law, as this ex-DEA agent falsely alleges. If it were as
Fouse claims, then as long as the feds pass a law in any area, there
is no area in which the states could legislate.

Understanding the Tenth Amendment should make it easy to understand
why it took a constitutional amendment to enact as well as end
alcohol prohibition (18th and 21st amendments). It should also point
out how respect for the Constitution has suffered so much erosion at
the hands of federal agencies and the courts that permit it.

But the real problem is, why paraphrase it at all? It's short and
simple enough that readers of this paper can understand it. That is,
unless your arguments are only supported by your paraphrasing.

R.L. Root

Westminster