States sue Colorado for legal marijuana: Feds look to North Korea for ideas
Colorado’s legalisation of marijuana has upset two neighbouring states:
The attorneys general of Nebraska and Oklahoma have asked the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional Colorado’s law legalizing marijuana. The lawsuit states that, “The Constitution and the federal anti-drug laws do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local pro-drug policies and licensed-distribution schemes throughout the country which conflict with federal laws.”
Federal law is a mess.
Many conservatives have criticized Nebraska and Oklahoma for being “fair-weather federalists” because their claims hinge, in part, on Gonzales v. Raich, a 2005 Supreme Court decision, upholding the broad reach of Congress’s power to regulate commerce.
Conservatives’ ire instead should be directed at the Obama administration’s decision to suspend enforcement of the federal law prohibiting marijuana—a decision so warping the rule of law that the complaining states’ reliance on Raich is justified and necessary. . . .
States cannot be required to enforce federal law. But as the Supreme Court held in Arizona v. United States (2012), when the federal government doesn’t enforce its own laws, states still “may not pursue policies that undermine federal law.” Colorado’s decision to legalize and regulate the sale of marijuana undermines the Controlled Substances Act, giving a major boost to all segments of that business. Indeed, in an interview this month Colorado’s attorney general, John Suthers, acknowledged that his state is “becoming a major exporter of marijuana.”
American has lost the plot:
A 45-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison, after nearly 400 pounds of marijuana was found in his home. Scott Bradley Cunningham, formerly of Inver Grove Heights, was charged, along with three other people, for possession of the drugs with the intent to distribute.
It”s about the lobby:
Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) is the new CEO of a marijuana company that produces cannabis-infused products for both recreational and medical use, the company announced Tuesday.
The United States has a broken drugs policy.
Meanwhile… Let’s get bombed in go-ahead North Korea!
Outside of the United States, Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana in 2013. The Netherlands allows citizens to keep and cultivate some marijuana, and police let coffee shops sell marijuana as long as they don’t sell to minors or break other major rules. Spain also permits marijuana clubs where people can use the drug, although the drug is officially illegal to sell. And according to multiple reports from experts, visitors, and defectors, North Korea either has no law restricting marijuana or the law goes effectively unenforced.
Do the Feds care about marijuana?
Posted: 31st, December 2014 | In: Reviews Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
