Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2005
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2005 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact: http://www.csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/encryptmail.pl?ID=CFF0C5E4
Website: http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich ( Raich v. Gonzales)

THE HIGH COURT ERRS

Washington, D.C. -- The historic American battle to either give or
take power from Washington has just seen a victory for Washington. On
Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress can override a state law
that allows the private, nonprofit use of doctor-prescribed marijuana.

The issue of legalized marijuana isn't really at stake in this
decision - this publication clearly opposes such use - as much as the
court's backtracking on its recent rulings giving more authority to
states. That trend toward federalism must not be eroded by this case.

The court found that even if the marijuana at issue does not cross
state lines, its local use has enough implications nationally to
invoke the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution. Thus, the
federal law that controls such drugs can trump state laws on drugs.

The harm in this 6-to-3 decision is that it further erodes the role of
states as laboratories for social, legal, and political experiments.
The nation has benefited from various failed and successful state
initiatives since its founding. Wisconsin, for instance, was a pioneer
in the kind of welfare reform adopted nationally in 1996.

California's Compassionate Use Act is such an experiment, one that
should be overturned by its lawmakers. This legalized use of medical
marijuana holds a dangerous potential to spread the drug and to create
an impression that it's harmless.

Prior to this verdict, the Rehnquist court had been drawing a "bright
line" in favor of state sovereignty. Almost any human activity can be
seen as having interstate implications. Yet the nation's strength lies
in keeping many solutions local. While the practical result of this
decision is correct in supporting a ban on marijuana, the court was
irresponsible to push the country further away from one of the great
strengths in the Constitution. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake