by RJ Harris
The federal government’s Constitutional authority to regulate drugs extends only so far as to prevent the movement of drugs across any state or federal border.
The war on drugs is not about drugs, it is about state sovereignty. Once the federal government gets us to concede the principle that the states cannot be trusted with their own sovereignty– to do what is right –then, on principle, the federal government will gain the ability to legislate other things against our sovereignty as well.
If we agree with the premise that Oklahoma cannot determine which drugs to allow its citizens to use and which ones not to let them use, then we have just conceded to allow the federal government to tell Oklahomans who they can and cannot marry, what they can and cannot eat, who they can and cannot associate with and so on.
I challenge you to re-read the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution wherein you will find that Oklahoma retained all sovereignty not delegated to the Congress through the Constitution.
While the federal government can control what goods enter the stream of interstate commerce, I do not agree that we Oklahoman’s should allow ourselves to be tricked into ceding one ounce of our liberty and sovereignty under the false premise that we cannot be trusted to regulate ourselves.
I would rather retain the right of our state to handle the drug issue, as well as other social issues, than accept on principle that we cannot regulate ourselves and that we therefore must accept other forms of social legislation from the federal government.
RJ Harris [send him email] is an entrepreneur, a law student, and a candidate for Congress in Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. Visit his website at www.rjharris2010.com.