U.S. Honor States new Pot Laws?
Women rolls joints for medical cannabis
Photo courtesy: CNN.com, Mark Osler
After reading an article from CNN by Mark Osler, I
learned that there are new laws in effect that deal with marijuana use. These
came into effect since the presidential election last Thursday. The residents
of Colorado and Washington state voted to legalize the use of marijuana.
However, the large controversy is pot is still very much illegal under the
federal law. The Obama administration will decide whether to enforce federal
law in the states that have rejected the substance of the law.
This is fascinating because this
begins up to colliding conflicts for political thought in America: federalism
and moralism. The Feds seek to limit the power of the federal government
compared to the states and individuals, and urge a very “hands off” approach”.
On the contrary, moralists strongly believe in the strong maintenance of social
order and continual enforcement of federal laws. There is almost a near overlap
between federal and state narcotics laws now.
With this change, someone carrying
a small bag of marijuana on the street could be thrown into prison, even if the
state law says otherwise. This is complete nonsense in my own opinion because
the federal law typically won’t provide jurisdiction over a robbery and worse
yet, murder. The possession of marijuana was made into a federal criminal case
under 21 U. S. C. Section 844. Marijuana is categorized as a schedule I
narcotic, along with heroin and mescaline. Whereas drugs like cocaine and opium,
are categorized under schedule II, which are less serious.
I think this really screwed up, and
the sad part is this is what our government battles over, more federal or state
power? The American experience is all about the perfect balance between federal
and state powers desired by the men that run it. Federalism is the centerpiece
that built the structure of our government from the Constitution. The Obama administration
should use their discretionary power and match it with the best principles from
our past, and worry about more important matter.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/opinion/osler-marijuana-federal-law/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
I also agree that this really is not a national issue. The country has a list of more important pieces of legislation to worry about. I also agree that this seems like a conflict of the government. They want to limit their own power but at the same time make sure they are able to enforce federal laws.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Maybe i'll move there. Joking but this is a really interesting topic and I can sense the competition between the Federal Level and State. I'm not sure how this will turn out though being that only two states are going for this. I feel a big controversy taking place. I do agree with you that it is a big waste of time and (tax payer) money worring about something so stupid when the US has bigger problems.
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