Repost from the BarrCode
6:00 am October 23, 2009, by Bob Barr
In 2005, the United States Supreme
Court struck a blow against the medicinal use of marijuana and against
the notion that states can enact and enforce their own laws without
being trumped by the federal government. In the Gonzalez v. Raich decision,
the High Court used the Constitution’s much-abused “interstate
commerce” clause as a basis on which to uphold a federal prosecution of
two women who grew and used small amounts of marijuana under a doctor’s
care, in compliance with California’s law permitting medicinal use of
marijuana.
The Raich opinion personified the perspective of the
administration of George W. Bush toward medicinal marijuana useage as
well as state’s powers. On October 19th, in a partial but welcome
reversal of that Bush-era policy, the Department of Justice issued new
guidelines for United States Attorneys in those states (California and
14 others) that have medicinal marijuana laws on the books.
Henceforth, so long as individuals in those states are using marijuana
for medical purposes and are in full compliance with the laws of their
state, federal prosecutors are not to pursue prosecution of those
people. The Justice Department memo did provide that if any number of
other factors were present (such as violence, sales to minors, ties to
other criminal actions, and so forth), prosecution by the feds might be
warranted.
The October 19th memo does not signal a wholesale reversal of the
federal anti-controlled substances effort; but it does illustrate that
the Obama Administration, and Attorney General Eric Holder, are
bringing a fresh and more common sense-based approach to at least this
aspect of federal drug policy.
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