by Patrick Reagan

Compassion is a term that transcends partisan politics and strikes at the heart of the American character. By compassion, I mean showing sympathy and rendering aid and comfort to the seriously afflicted, terminally ill, and dying.

Under this banner of compassion, a great struggle against Federal overreach has been raging for many years now. I am talking about efforts to legalize medical cannabis in various states around the U.S.

Cannabis has been known for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. However, the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that cannabis ‘’possesses no known medical value.’’

It has thus designated cannabis as a Schedule I substance despite volumes of scientific observations suggesting the contrary. Other drugs classified in this manner are Heroin, Ecstasy, LSD, and others. According to federal rules, no prescriptions, whatsoever, may be written for Schedule I substances.

Cocaine is classified as a Schedule II substance, which has less stringent restrictions.

Federal ignorance notwithstanding, state governments of differing political persuasions across America are rallying behind compassion and taking action. They are using the principle of interposition, enshrined in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, and the sovereignty reserved under the 10th Amendment to protect their patients and caregivers from Federal prosecution in their foolhardy “War on Drugs.”

Two recent cases are Kansas and New York. Both could not be further apart from each other on the political spectrum: Kansas is a known stronghold of social conservatism and New York is a national trendsetter in Progressivism. Despite their political differences, both state legislatures have submitted for consideration legislation that would offer legal protections for medical cannabis patients and their caregivers.

While compassion is the driving force behind this movement, the 10th amendment allows safe access to medical cannabis to become a reality. Its legal significance is such that it is cited in the opening pages of both states’ bills:

Kansas House Bill 2610 (HB2610):

“The legislature of the state of Kansas declares that this act is enacted pursuant to the police power of the state to protect the health of its citizens that is reserved to the state of Kansas and its people under the 10th amendment to the United States Constitution”

New York Assembly Bill A09016 and Senate Bill S4041B:

“This legislation is an appropriate exercise of the state’s legislative power to protect the health of its people under article 17 of the state constitution and the tenth amendment of the Unites States Constitution.”

To date, fourteen states have legalized medical cannabis under varying regulatory regimes in direct defiance of the Federal government’s Draconian total war on cannabis. They do this out of compassion, and with a proper understanding of a state’s role to interpose between the Federal government and the people when Congressional laws serve to the detriment of a state’s residents.

The struggle for medical cannabis will continue until the Federal government comes to its senses and removes the sick and dying from the “Drug War” battlefield, or better yet, ends the entire debacle altogether.

While medical cannabis legislation is pending in Congress (HB 2835), states should continue to interpose on behalf of their patients and caregivers while DC deliberates more “pertinent” issues. Unfortunately, though, many patients do not have time to wait while DC dithers.

I wholeheartedly urge readers in states without medical cannabis programs or protection laws to engage their legislators and governors to take a stand for compassionate cannabis and the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

CLICK HERE – to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s Legislative Tracking Page for State Marijuana Legislation.

Patrick Reagan is a libertarian Constitutionalist who was born in Chicago, grew up in San Antonio and spent his teenage and collegiate years in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. He’s trekked across a good chunk of the globe over the past 2 yeas and currently resides abroad.

Copyright © 2010 by TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given

“In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
–Thomas Jefferson

I would like to extend to you an opportunity to show your support for our United States Constitution’s Tenth Amendment.

As you may be aware, I introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 1609 to the Kansas Legislature in early February of this 2009 session. This resolution contains language which clearly spells out state sovereignty rights under the United States Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The U.S. Constitution does not empower the federal government to overrule state laws without restraint. The Constitution does not give the federal government the right to interfere with the affairs of our state – or any state – especially by seducing citizens with money that comes with hidden and unknown obligations.The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to intrude by decree into the lives of citizens with excessive spending of their tax dollars.

As James Madison specified in Federalist #45, the U.S. Constitution creates a federal government of specific listed powers, not one of wide-ranging and far-reaching power that usurps the state’s authority and the rights of the people.

After introducing the resolution, I quickly received massive statewide support. With that support, and because of the significance of the underlying principles of the resolution, I wanted to give as many state senators as possible the ability to co-sponsor the legislation. I had the resolution redrafted, received a total of 24 senators’ signatures onto the measure, including all of Senate leadership, and re-introduced the resolution, SCR 1615. You can read it here.

Now I would like to extend you the opportunity to show your support by attaching your signature to this letter.

You won’t be alone. Many organizations throughout our state have voiced concerns about this subject, and their members will also be signing this letter.

The Senate Judiciary Chairman has promised SCR 1615 will have a hearing on Jan. 15, 2010, the first Friday of the 2010 session. But we can take action before that time by sending out a public statement showing the respect and support we have for our state’s sovereignty, and the indignation we feel about the over-stepping of the limits the Constitution places on the federal government.

Today, both the President and Congress assume the federal government should control the states and give them the role of acting as agents on their behalf. But they have it backwards.

Today we put the President and Congress on notice: it is the federal government that exists for the benefit of the states, and that includes the great state of Kansas.

Kansas residents and organizations, to show your support, please e-mail me at tenthamendment@pilchercook.com with your name and the city in which you live, and we will add you to our list of supporters.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and your passion for our liberty.

Mary Pilcher Cook is married to Don Cook – a talented musician and furniture repair technician. Mary grew up in Shawnee and St. Joseph Parish and her parents, Ray and Bertha Pilcher, have been members since 1963. Her brother is Father John Pilcher. Mary has served two terms as a Kansas State Representative and has done quite a bit of legislative work in giving the voters a better system of selecting judges and pushing for more accountability and transparency in government Mary also served as Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women President from 2003-2005. Mary was employed as a software engineer, and she has professional experience in the high-tech financial news industry. She received a BS in Information Science and an MBA specializing in finance from Avila University . Mary and her husband have five children and four grandchildren, and are small business owners in the mobile furniture repair business.

Calling all Kansas Patriots and Lovers of our sacred Constitution – need your help right now! Please email your senators to Support and Pass SCR 1615.

You can read the resolution text here. (.pdf) A letter is composed below along with the email addresses of Kansas state senators. Feel free to copy and paste the letter or alter it as your heart tells you is right.

Dear Honorable Kansas State Senators
State House of the Kansas Senate
Topeka, KS 66612

I am writing to ask for your support of Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1615 sponsored by Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook. This very critical bill supports our Constitution’s 10th amendment.

SCR1615 is a concurrent resolution “claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over certain powers; serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates; providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed.”

This resolution asserts the State’s – and the Kansas citizens’ – sovereignty from, and supremacy over, the federal government under the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In short, the resolution states that Kansas will no longer be forced to accept every dictate from the U.S. Government against our will.

The 10th amendment of the Constitution states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Please also be reminded of the words of Thomas Jefferson:

“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people’. To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible to any definition.”

Sincerely Yours,
Kansas Patriot and Lover of our Constitution

email addresses of KS senators

Steve.Abrams@senate.ks.gov
Pat.Apple@senate.ks.gov
Jim.Barnett@senate.ks.gov
Karin.Brownlee@senate.ks.gov
Terry.Bruce@senate.ks.gov
Pete.Brungardt@senate.ks.gov
Jeff.Colyer@senate.ks.gov
Les.Donovan@senate.ks.gov
Jay.Emler@senate.ks.gov
Oletha.Faust-Goudeau@senate.ks.gov
Marci.Francisco@senate.ks.gov
David.Haley@senate.ks.gov
Anthony.Hensley@senate.ks.gov
Tom.Holland@senate.ks.gov
Tim.Huelskamp@senate.ks.gov
Laura.Kelly@senate.ks.gov
Dick.Kelsey@senate.ks.gov
Kelly.Kultala@senate.ks.gov
Janis.Lee@senate.ks.gov
Julia.Lynn@senate.ks.gov
Bob.Marshall@senate.ks.gov
Ty.Masterson@senate.ks.gov
Carolyn.Mcginn@senate.ks.gov
Steve.Morris@senate.ks.gov
Ralph.Ostmeyer@senate.ks.gov
Tim.Owens@senate.ks.gov
Mike.Petersen@senate.ks.gov
Mary.PilcherCook@senate.ks.gov
Dennis.Pyle@senate.ks.gov
Roger.Reitz@senate.ks.gov
Derek.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
Vicki.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
Jean.Schodorf@senate.ks.gov
Chris.Steineger@senate.ks.gov
Dwayne.Umbarger@senate.ks.gov
Ruth.Teichman@senate.ks.gov
Mark.Taddiken@senate.ks.gov
John.Vratil@senate.ks.gov
Susan.Wagle@senate.ks.gov
David.Wysong@senate.ks.gov