Legalizing Drugs Is Constitutional

Townhall.com ^ | January 23, 2012 | Katie Kieffer

[tacticalogic]

Ther is no need to LEGALIZE them, simply repeal the laws making them ILLEGAL. No, I do not favor doing so, unless we are protected from the unintended consequences.

Every state has their own drug laws already on the books. If all the unconstitutional federal drug laws were declared invalid tomorrow, all the drugs that are illegal today would still be illegal, except for the "medical marijuana" in states which have legalized that. The federal government would still have constitutional jurisdiction over any drugs crossing our border.

[Ken H]

James Madison on the power to regulate commerce among the several states:

Yet it is very certain that it grew out of the abuse of the power by the importing States in taxing the non-importing, and was intended as a negative and preventive provision against injustice among the States themselves, rather than as a power to be used for the positive purposes of the General Government, in which alone, however, the remedial power could be lodged.

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_3_commerces19.html

[runninglips]

If that is true, why didn’t they use the “Commerce clause” to disallow alcohol production during the early part of the last century? THEY NEEDED A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to do so, and it was repealed.