Who’d a thunk it? The recent marijuana legalization victories in Washington state and Colorado are outstandingly good news for the U.S. Constitution.
Why? Because they underline the facts that James Madison stated in 1788: “”The powers of the federal government are enumerated; it can only operate in certain cases; it has legislative powers on defined and limited objects, beyond which it cannot extend its jurisdiction.”
So does the Constitution empower the federal government to regulate or outlaw the use or possession of certain substances, such as…alcoholic beverages?
Of course not! That’s why…
…it was necessary to pass the 18th Amendment to create Prohibition in America. Back then, at least, they knew the federal government didn’t have the power or authority under the Constitution to regulate, outlaw, or prohibit use or possession of alcohol. A Constitutional amendment was necessary to give that power to the federal government!
The same facts and reasoning apply to marijuana. However, the really great thing is that many people who support marijuana legalization also worship federal government power, being basically ignorant or dismissive of Constitutional limits on it. So it’s exceptionally nice to see an issue come to the fore where we can all agree that….
- The U.S. Constitution is not an unlimited grant of power to the federal government,
- The 50 sovereign states are not merely administrative units of an all-powerful federal government, and
- As the 10th Amendment says, “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.”
Now, about federal marijuana laws…you were saying?