California Senate to Feds: Back Off!
My home state of California usually interacts with the federal government by genuflecting. But, on a few issues – very few, that is – they’ve got plenty of backbone.
Paul Armentano: The Unconstitutional War on Pot
In this week’s podcast, Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML discusses the unconstitutional nature of the war on marijuana, the history of marijuana prohibition in the U.S., the commerce clause as a federal excuse to regulate and prohibit various activities and more.
Is Idaho Ready for Medical Marijuana?
American marijuana prohibition began in 1937. Since its heyday in 1970, the federal government has defined marijuana as having a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in treatment.
Delaware Senate bill would legalize medical marijuana
Delawareans afflicted with a variety of chronic and painful conditions would be able to legally use medical marijuana to ease their suffering under a bill now under consideration in the Delaware State Senate.
Sen. Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington East), said her bill isn’t an outright decriminalization of marijuana and is aimed at balancing compassion for the sick with maintaining tight controls on access and the amount of marijuana a person can have.
RI House Passes Marijuana Dispensary Plan
The House today voted 63 to 5 to approve legislation to allow the creation of compassion centers to dispense marijuana to patients in the state’s medical marijuana program.
If the legislation (2009-H 5359A), which is sponsored by Rep. Thomas C. Slater (D-Dist. 10, Providence), is enacted, Rhode Island would join California and New Mexico as the only states that allow medical marijuana dispensaries.
Ron Paul: States Have Right to Legalize Marijuana
In a recent interview on Air America Radio, Ron Paul took a strong stand in support of the Constitution and State Sovereignty – by stating that laws and regulations of Marijuana should be on a state level.
“If California wants to legalize it, let ‘em legalize it,” Paul told host Richard Greene on Air America’s “Hollywood CLOUT!” program.
Georgia Group Pushes New Marijuana Laws
Rick Malone, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia, said few prosecutors would oppose decriminalization but suspected few legislators would want to take on the issue.
You’re not going to get anyone to repeal the marijuana laws because they don’t want the political heat but if you got them in a back room and asked about their use in their youth, you might be surprised at the result,” Malone said.
CA Governor says he’s open to debate on legal pot
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the time is right to debate legalizing marijuana for recreational use in California.
The governor’s comments were made as support grows nationwide for relaxing pot laws and only days after a poll found that for the first time a majority of California voters back legal marijuana.
Drug War Casualty: The Bill of Rights and Constitutional Liberty
by Anthony Gregory, LewRockwell.com The following is based on a talk given at the Free State Project’s Liberty Forum in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Friday, March 6, 2009. The Tenth Amendment says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States [...]
U.S. to yield marijuana jurisdiction to states?
by Bob Egelko, SF Chronicle U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama – who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana – will end raids on pot dispensaries in California. Asked at a Washington news conference Wednesday about Drug Enforcement Administration [...]
A Tenth Amendment victory?
by Jason Pye, The Liberty Papers This may be the only time that President Obama doesn’t try to undermine the sovereignty of individual states granted by the Tenth Amendment, but I’ll take it:
Will Obama Stop the Medical Marijuana Raids?
by Anthony Gregory, CampaignforLiberty In 1996, California passed proposition 215, allowing for medical marijuana. We have seen similar decriminalization measures in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont. President Bill Clinton responded to such liberalizing laws with a series of federal raids on marijuana dispensaries, arresting [...]
Let states decide on medical marijuana
Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy, makes the point pretty clear in this letter to the Sheboygan Press: While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps [...]
Feds violated 10th Amendment. Again.
As It Stands by Dave Stancliff/For the Eureka Times-Standard A landmark decision for all Californian’s quietly made history on August 20th in a Santa Cruz courtroom. For the first time since 1996, when the Compassionate Use Act was passed, the federal authorities have been charged with violating the 10th Amendment for harassing medical marijuana patients [...]
A Public Menace: The War on Drugs
If you are concerned at all about liberty, the economy, the Constitution and the power of the Federal Government – you cannot ignore our longest and most costly war – the War on Drugs. But no matter how long it lasts, how much is costs, how many lives are disrupted, and how much it fails [...]
Power Always Corrupts
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.
The Longest and Most Costly War in American History
If you are concerned at all about liberty, the economy, the Constitution and the power of the Federal Government – you cannot ignore our longest and most costly war – the War on Drugs. It’s now 35 years after Dick Nixon started this “war” -Â and we now have over 1 million – yes, 1 [...]
More Drug War Madness
The unconstitutional drug war rages on – and on, and on. Recently, Federal Agents raided a California small business and arrested three people for running a marijuana candy factory. States rights have no bearing when thugs shut down businesses, destroy families, and throw people in jail.
Time to Get Rid of the FDA
The time has long since come for the U.S. Congress to abolish the Food and Drug Administration. We’d like to think that FDA officials have only our health and safety in mind when they decide on what food or medicines they’ll allow us to buy. But, sadly enough, they’re as politically motivated as any politician [...]
The Drug War and the Totalitarian Nightmare
The war on drugs continues unabated. As the New York Times recently reported: Frustrated by government policy and inaction, a group of advocates for medical marijuana sued two federal health agencies on Wednesday over the assertion that smoking it has no medical benefit. The group, Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, [...]
The DEA flexes its federal power in California…again
Once again, federal thugs from the Drug Enforcement Administration targeted marijuana growers in Northern California. According to a report from the Modesto Bee: Federal agents raided two south Modesto homes Wednesday, uncovering an indoor marijuana farm that may be linked to an Asian crime syndicate operating out of the Bay Area. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration [...]
Politicizing Pain: The War on Marijuana
by Rep Ron Paul K.K. Forss does not claim medical marijuana solves all his problems. His pain from a ruptured disc in his neck is debilitating. He is unable to go to work or to the First Baptist Church he used to attend because of the pain and muscle spasms. Taxpayers through Medicare spend over [...]
Apr 28, 2008 | Categories:Drug War | Tags: 10th Amendment, Drug War, freedom, Guest Commentary, marijuana, medical-marijuana, medication, pot, Ron Paul, State Sovereignty, war-on-drugs | 27 Comments »