Pubdate: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 Source: Contra Costa Times (CA) Copyright: 2004 Knight Ridder Contact: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96 Author: Tom Halla Cited: Raich v. Ashcroft ( www.angeljustice.org/ ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) CONSTITUTIONAL LESSON I sometimes have the conceit that "gun control" was a subtle ploy to teach right-wingers constitutional law. The left might have a similar opportunity with medical marijuana. The traditional interpretation of the Constitution was that the federal government has no general police power (reference the doctrine of "enumerated powers"). This has been in conflict with the liberal desire to "do something" about almost everything, and to do so on a federal level. On the merits of the case, the court should rule that the federal government has no jurisdiction. The problem for liberals is that, to rule in favor of the California law, the court would have to, in effect, overturn several decisions that enabled the "New Deal." I seriously doubt that they realize that tradeoff exists. I do wonder if they even care. Tom Halla Concord - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin