Pubdate: Thu, 02 Dec 2004
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2004 Newsday Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Leave It to the States

FEDS OVERREACH ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Time was when marijuana use prompted easy political stereotypes -
liberals for, conservatives against. Not anymore. Conservatives of
different stripes are likely to have warring views on the case the
Supreme Court considered this week asking whether a federal law
prohibiting marijuana possession can constitutionally trump laws in 11
states that allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes. The court
should rule in favor of the states.

Cultural conservatives won't like the idea of legal drug use. Ditto
for conservatives who favor states rights, but they'd like it even
less if the court allowed Washington to overrule voters in states who
approved the use of medical marijuana.

Justices don't rely on political views to decide such things. Federal
drug laws are rooted in the Constitution's commerce clause, which
authorizes regulation of interstate trade. But the court has said that
authority doesn't cover local, non-economic acts unless there's a
commercial impact. That should apply to two California women whose
marijuana wasn't commercially traded or shipped across state lines.

There are plenty of legitimate fronts in the war on drugs. Sick people
using marijuana with their doctors' blessings isn't one of them.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake