Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Constitution + Marijuana = ?

Something big has just happened in the fight over medical marijuana in California. Supporters of California's right to legalize weed for medical purposes have just advanced a new theory that has started to gain legal ground. This new theory is that the federal government's efforts to undermine California's legalization policies are in violation of the 10th Amendment, which states that rights not given to the federal government are delegated to the states and the people. Since the federal government routinely harasses the physicians who prescribe weed and raid medical marijuana facilities in California, they are potentially undermining California's constitutional right to pass and enforce its own laws. 

The major issue here surrounds California's system of regulation, which relies on doctor's recommendations, identification cards and medicinal providers to distinguish between medical and recreational users. By targeting and intimidating the physicians in this system, the U.S. Government is hindering California in the administration of its state laws, which is at least arguably a violation of the 10th amendment.

There have been a ton of constitutional arguments advanced before against the Controlled Substances Act, which comprehensively criminalized most recreational drugs in the U.S. However, this 10th amendment theory is one of the only theories to survive a motion to dismiss in district court. 

Hopefully this trial is going somewhere!!!!! 

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