Back in ’99, even George Bush himself was calling for an end to the war on medical marijuana users. It’s not something that’s pointed out too often these days, and thanks to Anthony Gregory at LewRockwell.com, we can all read these statements from Bush himself.
Here’s what Gregory had to say:
I distinctly remembered that Bush said something back during his first presidential campaign about leaving medical marijuana laws up to the states. After Clinton’s horrendous crackdowns in California, I recall thinking Bush’s stance on this, along with his “humble” foreign policy promises, was a reason I quietly rooted for him against Gore. I imagined on civil liberties and war, as well as economics, he’d be slightly less bad.
And, of course, here’s the original 1999 report from the Washington Post:
“Campaigning in Seattle on Saturday, Bush answered questions about medical marijuana laws by saying, ‘I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.'”
R. Keith Stroup, executive director for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, which has backed D.C.’s drug initiative, said he was “delighted” by Bush’s support of state authority.
“Governor Bush is at least being consistent,” Stroup said. “Republicans frequently talk about devolution, returning power to the states. . . . It is encouraging to hear him indicate that he would leave this decision to them.”
Consistent – sure – as long as he wasn’t running the country as our “commander-in-chief.” But, as Lord Acton warned us about human nature, once he got power, that power corrupted. (Remember? Power Corrupts – absolute power corrupts absolutely.)
Then again, he might’ve just been acting like politicians act – and saying something to get a few votes.
Either way, it doesn’t really matter, because in practice Bush has only upped the ante and supported the seemingly never-ending war on your freedom/drugs.
As Ron Paul has said so clearly, this issue is one that’s supposed to be left to the states – to decide locally:
The Federal government should recognize that states have the authority to decide these issues. This affords all states the opportunity to see which policies are most beneficial. As a Congressman and a physician, I strongly advocate that healthcare decisions should be made by doctors and patients, not politicians or federal agents, which is why I am an original co-sponsor of the recently introduced “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act†which would bar the Federal government from intervening in such doctor/patient relationships that violate no state law.
As written previously on this site, the federal drug war is an abomination:
…the drug war is based on a repugnant assertion: that you do not have ownership over your own body; that you don’t have the right to decide what you’ll do with your body, with your property and with your life. The position of the drug warriors is that you should be in jail if you decide to do something with your body that they don’t approve of.
Federal “authorities†don’t care what your local laws are, don’t care what your personal choices are and don’t care what reason you have for your choices.
All they care about is their own power. Period.
But, there’s nothing, whatsoever, in the US Constitution which permits the federal government to wage a “drug war.â€
The Constitution was written under the principle of “positive grant,†which means that the federal government is authorized to exercise only those powers which are specifically listed in the Constitution. The rest, as the 10th Amendment states, are to be “reserved to the States, respectively, or to the People.â€
A simple reading of the Constitution would make it quite clear to anyone, that there’s nothing mentioned about drug wars, drugs, marijuana, plants, or anything of the like.
Thus, it’s not only the federal marijuana laws that are unconstitutional, but the entire federal “war on drugs.â€
It’s time to bring this multi-billion dollar attack on your liberty to an end.