Constitution, Article I, Section 8: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”
If light bulbs are sold from one state to another, this clause, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, gives congress the right to ban it.
If the Congress can’t ban the sale of a light bulb, then they can’t ban the sale of drugs either.
The ban is stupid, but arguing that it is unconstitutional won’t help. Not enough people are ready to get the federal government out of the business of deciding what individual are allowed to own.
In fact, I doubt there would be a majority on this board who would allow people to grow Marijuana in their own back yards and smoke it. But if congress can ban that, they certainly can ban you from using incandescent light bulbs.
In fact, I doubt there would be a majority on this board who would allow people to grow Marijuana in their own back yards and smoke it. But if congress can ban that, they certainly can ban you from using incandescent light bulbs.
That's a good point. If we misuse Constitutional powers for "good" ends, then we allow others to misuse those same powers for "bad" ends.
We'd be better off with a more originalist approach to Congressional commerce power- across the board.