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.
