We are in the midst of a crisis of federalism and we don’t even know it. In November, the states of Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use, while 16 other states and Washington, D.C., already permitted the medical use of marijuana. Yet at the same time, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 prohibits the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana in all its forms. State and federal law are at odds.
The Constitution is plain: Federal law is the “supreme law of the land” (Article VI, section 2). And yet our national history is replete with conflicts between the laws of the states and those of the federal government. We’ve seen this scenario play out before, in episodes that have left deep marks on our history, from the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions opposing the Alien and Sedition Acts to the Nullification Crisis of 1832 to the Massive Resistance of Southern states against federal efforts to end segregation. In the modern era, the ordinary course of affairs would see such conflicts resolved by the courts, usually with federal law prevailing.
But when it comes to marijuana, we are not witnessing the ordinary course of affairs. The federal government seems to be letting the states go their own way.
In an interview with Barbara Walters, President Obama explained that he has “bigger fish to fry” than enforcing our nation’s marijuana laws, noting that countering Colorado’s and Washington’s defiance is not a “top priority” for his administration. This is a particularly “tough problem,” he said, because as the head of the executive branch, he’s “supposed to be carrying out the laws.”
No comments:
Post a Comment