Posted on 01/05/2018 5:32:19 AM PST by Kaslin
We are supposedly a nation of laws, not men, but our lawmakers have ensured over the years that we are increasingly at the whim of men, elected or appointed, instead of the law. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has declared that he will reverse an Obama Administration position allowing states to decide on marijuana legalization. Now, local United States Attorneys will be empowered to decide.
But neither the Obama Administration nor Jeff Sessions should do anything other than enforce the law, and federal law criminalizes marijuana. The solution here is not to ignore the federal law, but to repeal it. To do otherwise empowers individuals beyond the rule of law and puts the whims of officials ahead of the will of the people.
Near where I live, a local police officer pulled over a man for the audacious offense of driving while eating. There was no complaint and there was no evidence that the man was distracted in his driving. But the young police officer decided to use the distracted driving charge to ticket the man, whose local officials eventually threw out the citation. We live in an age where there are more and more complaints of overzealous police officers and overzealous cities nickel and diming the citizenry on old laws.
The correct remedy is to repeal stupid laws. Again, as long as the law is on the books, it allows a bureaucrat or politician to have extraordinary and capricious control over your life. It allows politicians to change their minds and reverse other policies. It puts men ahead of the law. And our Congress is notoriously good at passing laws then abdicating their constitutional responsibilities to bureaucrats who they can blame at election time.
You may think there is nothing wrong with legalized marijuana. All but three states now have some form of legalized medical marijuana and several states now have legalized recreational marijuana. California is the latest and also a case study in the legalization of marijuana as a new form of revenue and regulation.
Regardless, as long as a federal law is on the books making marijuana possession a criminal act, a bureaucrat in Washington can wipe out the market and a thriving industry. You can scream all you want that they should not do it, but they can and the only thing in life more certain than even death and taxes is that a bureaucrat will act arbitrarily and capriciously when the mood strikes.
This, though, is the logical outcome of the federal government stepping in to the criminal law field, something our founders would be appalled by. Tough on crime politicians run for federal office insisting they will make federal criminal laws and the result is placing people in situations where they can be prosecuted under a state law, then have a federal prosecutor prosecute them for the same thing when a U.S. Attorney seeks to build his name for his own run for office. No, it is not double jeopardy because the federal government and state governments are separate entities. Ironically, many of the tough on crime politicians getting elected to expand the federal criminal law are also Republican politicians who claim to want to return power to the states.
When John F. Kennedy was assassinated there was no federal law criminalizing the assassination of a President. Only in 1965 did Congress act. Now we have a federal crime for virtually anything you can think of and federal bureaucrats with their own SWAT teams to enforce not just criminal laws, but bureaucratic regulations.
Congress should scuttle most of the federal criminal law in an effort to restore the balance of power to the states. I am indifferent on marijuana legalization, but many states are not and Congress should let the system and rule of law work instead of undermining the rule of law by empowering the arbitrariness and capriciousness of men.
It is difficult to maintain the Constitution's guarantee of a Republican Form of Government when the Progressive agenda instructs their liberal, socialist, and democrat supporters that America is a democracy, which means to them that the majority can trump the law.
excellent point
MOST OF THEM. WITH THE NEW PAIN LAWS GOING INTO EFFECT JAN 1 BOTH STATE AND FED DOCTORS NOW FEAR SCRIPTING ANY OPIOID. AND IS HAVING GRAVE CONSEQUENCES. UNCONTROLLED LEVEL 10 PAIN LEADS TO HYPER TENSION. I’ve got a NEW BETA CHANNEL BLOCKER I didn’t NEED before. More Blood Labs to do. Higher risk of a heart attack.
THE OPIOID CRISIS IS AS FAKE AS ALBORE’S GLOBAL WARMING.
10 Myths of Opioid Crisis
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/12/24/10-myths-about-the-opioid-crisis
Opioid Addiction Is a Huge Problem, but Pain Prescriptions Are Not the Cause
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/opioid-addiction-is-a-huge-problem-but-pain-prescriptions-are-not-the-cause/
Chasing the wrong Epidemic
https://thecrimereport.org/2018/01/02/chasing-the-wrong-epidemic/
HISTORY OF DRUG TRAFFICKING
http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-drug-trafficking
Illegals responsible for 3/4th of fed drug possession...smugglers
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/illegal-immigrants-responsible-for-almost -three-fourths-of-federal-drug-possession-sentences-in-2014/article/2567814
The truth about crime, illegal immigrants and sanctuary cities
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/crime/329589-the-truth-about-crime-illegal-immigrants-and-sanctuary-cities
you stopped reading because you are ignorant
If the “rule of law” mattered, Marijuana Prohibition could not have happened without a Constitutional Amendment.
_________________________________________________________
This way of thinking has been dead since before the New Deal. The overwhelming majority of Americans simply defer to the authority of Federally-passed laws of court decisions made by the SCOTUS. Why go through the trouble of adding an amendment when you can simply stack the SCOTUS with ideologues who interpret the Constitution differently?
“If the “rule of law” mattered, Marijuana Prohibition could not have happened without a Constitutional Amendment.”
This x1000
Really?
That’s all you got?
Gee, thanks.
E.E. is the ignorant, unapologetic, never-trumper, not me.
Marijuana, (Mary Jane, THC) remains a federally mandated controlled substance.
I think this is a major rope-a-dope that Sessions pulls out while DOJ continues to work with the Patriot agents in FBI. Now that the Clinton Foundation investigation has been given a green light, they can dust off all of the work hampered by Comey/McCabe et.al. and get some work done.
“but instead he intends to waste huge amounts of time and money on this instead of doing his job.”
Waadayamean? There’s a lot of money to be made in shutting down and confiscating assets of these criminal marijuana enterprises. Aren’t you a law and order conservative?
Marijuana doesn’t fry your brain, but anti pot propaganda does.
https://hightimes.com/culture/9-of-the-smartest-pot-smokers-who-ever-walked-the-planet/
WeedWussiness equals weakness, dependence, and instability.
Another post by a devout nanny-stater :)
You are right on.
Especially among the young, who where I live get their start-up from their parents.
But then again, no.
It's a bad bet to have such expectations of the potsies.
They may be high, but we'll keep our expectations of them low. :)
There should be almost no federal crimes. The vast majority of crimes should be state or local. Period.
I was a steady daily drinker for nearly 25 years.
So I can’t throw rocks in too many directions.
All I know is that clarity is best, and that I was lucky to get out while I still had some life ahead.
I drink coffee everyday.
However, I don't worship alcohol and coffee. Pot people worship pot.
That's why I don't consider us as "casting stones" at the stoners when we zonk them on their potheads! Lol!
Get the DEA and the US Controlled Substances Act to explain to you.
“Get the DEA and the US Controlled Substances Act to explain to you.”
Try forming a coherent sentence next time.
L
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