ALTERED STATES' RIGHTS: Making the Case to Legalize Drugs in Washington State

The Stranger (Seattle) ^ | 2/24/2005 | Josh Feit`

[Wneighbor]

Surprise!!!! I used to live there... I'm bright enough to know that. Read what I said, "I like to hear other states besides us southerners bringing it up." Other indicates that I mean "states that aren't in the south.

[tacticalogic]

The Constitution grants the federal government the right to regulate commerce, which is the cornerstone of the Controlled Substances Act.

Not quite. The Constitution grants the federal government the right to regulate commerce among the several states. The cornerstone of the CSA is the "substantial effects" doctrine, an invention of FDR that appears nowhere in the Constitution.

[funkywbr]

So you dont disagree then?

PS, and yes Pot would be enough.

Also I remember years ago reading about this judge at the time who few in on his private plane x amount of pot.

He was 1 gram short of the felony!~}

[libertyman]

No you're not...the Drug War is LOST, my friend. Those of us who use responsibly are going to continue to do so, & there's nothing the feds can do to stop us (apart from turning America into a complete Orwellian/totalitarian society, which it IS trying to do, albeit ever-so-slowly).

[Zeroisanumber]

This is more kookish propaganda from the pro-drug crowd. Don't let anyone fool you, we are winning the war on drugs, one dealer/user/producer/trafficker at a time.

Riiight. That's why we have the new meth scourge to deal with, drugs are cheaper than ever, and the narcos in Colombia are as entrenched as they have ever been.

[libertyman]

Absolutely...we can still have a drug war if the feds began to respect the 9th & 10th Amendments like it is supposed to: a conserviative state like Utah can be as prohibitionist as it pleases, a liberal state like the People's Republic of California can make marijuana legal for adults again, & the feds can strengthen border security to prevent the importation of drugs & illegal immigrants from abroad.

[Gabz]

I went back and re-read your comment - I guess we do agree.

I have absolutely nothing against pot being treated the same as alcohol and tobacco.....not so sure I'm ready to embrace too much else, yet.

And just for disclaimer, I only indulge in alcohol and tobacco, and that wouldn't change regardless of what they do or don't.

I think the "Wars on (name the substance)" are ridculous wastes of taxpayer money.

[motzman]

Some people will only be happy when all Americans wander the streets stoned and mumbling obscenities.

Alcohol is legal, yet this hasn't happened. How can this be?

[ClintonBeGone]

Those of us who use responsibly are going to continue to do so, & there's nothing the feds can do to stop us

I can't help but hear the theme music from COPS in the background as I read your comments. I wonder how many of those perps you see being dragged away felt the same thing?

[MamaTexan]

progressives are embracing states' rights: the founding fathers' idea of Federalism, in which states cede a few key powers to D.C. while maintaining robust sovereignty themselves.

Dude! What a totally new idea!
(not)

Federalist No. 39

The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles
(For the Independent Journal)
James Madison

Were the people regarded in this transaction as forming one nation, the will of the majority of the whole people of the United States would bind the minority, in the same manner as the majority in each State must bind the minority; and the will of the majority must be determined either by a comparison of the individual votes, or by considering the will of the majority of the States as evidence of the will of a majority of the people of the United States. Neither of these rules have been adopted. Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act.
(Emphasis mine)

How can Washington State get away with regulating (i.e., legalizing) drugs, like heroin and pot, that the federal government has outlawed under the Controlled Substances Act?

If it stays IN the State, it's not AMONG the states, now is it?

Why do we keep paying these guys, anyway?

[libertyman]

We'll just continue to enjoy ourselves again...& again...& AGAIN, until our responsible use of marijuana is made legal again. The tide is turning in OUR favor, altho I wish it would hurry up.

[TKDietz]

"This is more kookish propaganda from the pro-drug crowd. Don't let anyone fool you, we are winning the war on drugs, one dealer/user/producer/trafficker at a time."

You must consider a prison sentence a win and think the more people we lock up the more we win. If that was all there was to it, maybe you could say we're on the road to winning. We'd need to put millions more behind bars though before you could declare victory by that measure.

[headsonpikes]

RE: prison policy


"Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant" (Where they create a wasteland, they call it peace.) Tacitus (historian, ancient Rome)

[bassmaner]

release a radical proposal urging Olympia to reform local drug laws.

It cracks me up to see re-legalization described as a "radical proposal".

Remember - pot was made illegal because (according to then Federal Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger) it made 'white women have sex with black jazz musicians'. Banning such a substance (which, at the time in 1937, the AMA opposed because cannibis was part of the generally accepted physician's pharmacopiea for thousands of years) for that reason is what was truly "radical".

[libertyman]

What will you do once marijuana is made legal again, either in a few liberal states or the US as a whole? Will you move to Saudi Arabia or Malaysia? I know those countries have been known for their tough stand against folks who use drugs.

[sgtbono2002]

You are correct I read it wrong--my apologies.

[Sender]

I'll bet they were winning the war on whiskey one bottle at a time, too. It created a stunning crime empire, violent shootouts which resulted in the NFA gun laws of 1934, moonshiners, bootleggers, citizens hiding behind locked doors, and occupied most of law enforcement's time.

THAT worked out real well, didn't it???

[pageonetoo]

DrugSense

Drug War Clock

http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm

It is Fri Feb 25 2005

Money Spent on the War On Drugs this Year- click on site

The U.S. federal government spent over $19 billion dollars in 2003 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $600 per second. The budget has since been increased by over a billion dollars.

Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy

Denny Crane sucks...

[antiRepublicrat]

Don't let anyone fool you, we are winning the war on drugs, one dealer/user/producer/trafficker at a time.

With each vacancy in the marked immediately filled. You know we're losing when our massive multi-billion dollar interdiction efforts are simply factored into their profit models.

[ClintonBeGone]

With each vacancy in the marked immediately filled. You know we're losing when our massive multi-billion dollar interdiction efforts are simply factored into their profit models.

I suspect a model that incorporates death and incarceration would show the number of customers is declining. Now if drugs used per person is increasing, I have no idea how to measure that.