byรย Gabriel Rios, Medical Cannabis Network
A case is currently making its way though our legal system that could potentially bring down the very root of marijuana prohibition. The case has drawn little attention from the media, but behind the scenes, state legislatures across the nation have gotten directly involved in the effort to overturn a key New Deal- era Supreme Court case. Should they succeed even in part, the federal governmentรขโฌโขs ability to interfere in state affairs would be dramatically diminished. Success, would render theรย Controlled Substances Actรย powerless to affect intra-state activity and thus allow any state to implement reform or even fullรย marijuana legalizationรย without any DEA or Department of Justice trouble.
The decision that this effort seeks to overturn comes from the 1942 case ofรย Wickard v. Filburn. Roscoe Filburn was a wheat farmer who refused to comply with a federal law that regulated how much wheat he could grow. Because he grew twice as much as he was allowed to,รย he was ordered to destroy the excess crops and pay a fine. Filburn then went to court and claimed that because he was gonna consume all the excess wheat himself, it would have no effect on interstate commerce and was thus beyond the reach of the federal Commerce Power since the Constitution only grants it power toรย รขโฌลregulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.รขโฌย
When the case reached the Supreme Court, it did so a time when President Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal reforms were putting enormousรย pressure on the courtรย to expand federal power. As a result, the court ruled that even if anรย รขโฌลactivity be local and though it may not be regarded as commerce, it may still, whatever its nature, be reached by Congress if it exerts a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce and this irrespective of whether such effect is what might at some earlier time have been defined as รขโฌหdirectรขโฌโข or รขโฌหindirect.รขโฌโข รขโฌลรย Since the extra wheat could replace other purchases, possibly from other states, it was deemed to have an effect on interstate commerce. By thus declaring that Congress could regulate absolutely any activity that may somehow affect commerce between the states, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to Federal intervention in all areas of state life. The ruling allowed the creation of a wide range of legislation, from the Endangered Species and Civil Rights Acts, to the Controlled Substances Act.
The man behind the plan is oneรย Gary Marbut from Montana. Guns are the 65-year-oldรขโฌโขs central passion, and he has been a tremendously successful advocate for the gun rights cause. Mr. Marbutรขโฌโขs activism has helpedรย Montana lawmakersรย get elected and gotten him into the business of legislation without a single vote; he has written a number of gun-related bills enacted by the Montana legislature. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Marbut has chosen to attack the federal government with a gun rights angle.
To start, Mrรย Marbutรย convinced the Montana legislature to pass hisรย Firearms Freedom Act, which declares that federal gun regulations do not apply to any weapons produced in Montana that carry anรย รขโฌลin-stateรขโฌยรย stamp. Once the law passed, Marbutรย announced that he would begin production of a miniature rifle for children and that by virtue of the new Act, as long as he only sold it in Montana, he did not have to submit to any federal guidelines or inspections. The bait worked, and so began the quest to bring the matter to the Supreme Court. The case was dismissed by a district court, but far from dampening enthusiasm, the effort has only grown in scope. Seven other states have passed similar laws (and a whopping 17 are still trying to) in order to force the issue and Marbut also has the backing of ten state attorney generals, numerous legislatures and national conservative organizations.
In the 2005รย Gonzales v. Raichรย case, the Supreme Court explicitly used the Wickard precedent to justify the federal governmentรขโฌโขs power to regulate (ban) home-grown marijuana use regardless of state law. The 6-3 decision stated thatรย รขโฌลWickard thus establishes that Congress can regulate purely intrastate activity that is not itself รขโฌลcommercial,รขโฌย in that it is not produced for sale, if it concludes that failure to regulate that class of activity would undercut the regulation of the interstate market in that commodity.รขโฌย
Today, what Marbut calls theรย รขโฌลemerging awareness by the people of America that the federal government has gone too far,รขโฌยรย may just create the right social and political conditions for a more conservative Supreme Court to take a good long look at theรย Tenth Amendmentรย and work towards limiting federal power. The Commerce Clause should not be used as a one size fits all justification for burdensome government regulations. Certainly, many of the activities ofรย medical marijuana patientsรย and providers have nothing to do with commerceรย รขโฌลamong the several statesรขโฌยรย and should not be subject to the Controlled Substances Act. If Gary Marbut has his way, we may soon see a new era of narrowed down federal power and with it, a de-facto end to nationalรย marijuana prohibition.
Gabriel Rios [send him email] is the marketing manager with the Medical Cannabis Network. Find them online at marijuanadoctors.com