Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s (R-CA) Respect State Marijuana Laws Act (HR 1253) is a step in the right direction in the “War on Pot.” The Federal Government should honor the Ninth and Tenth Amendmendment rights of marijuana smokers and growers.
Our Constitution’s Framers believed in state’s rights. If the grand majority of them lived today, they would be supportive of Washington and Colorado’s laws on marijuana use.
On April 12, after three U.S House republicans demanded that the president enforce federal laws on marijuana in Colorado and Washington, their Californian colleague Dana Rohrabacher proposed an act entitled Respect State Marijuana Laws Act (HR 1253).
The name of HR 1253 is highly appropriate for it describes what would happen if it were passed and signed into law. If Rohrabacher’s bill succeeds, marijuana users and growers in the 27 states where medical and non-medical marijuana is legal or decriminalized would only be subject to the marijuana laws of their states.
That means the federal government would have no say on the use and ownership of marijuana within those 27 states.
Finally, the costly and unnecessary DEA raids on stores that produce and sell marijuana would come to an end. Cannabis and hemp growers would not be subject to the rules, regulations, and fines the Federal government imposes on them.
The federal government is formed by the union of the states. The federal government exists for the states and the people, not the other way around. Basically, the federal government cannot tell the states what to do with marijuana.
Rohrabacher, a conservative defender of liberty, has gone on record to describe his bill.
“This bipartisan bill represents a common-sense approach that establishes federal government respect for all states’ marijuana laws. It does so by keeping the federal government out of the business of criminalizing marijuana activities in states that don’t want it to be criminal.”
The intent of Rohrabacher’s bill is in agreement with the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of our Constitution.
The signing of Rohabacher’s bill into law would result in the Federal government being more in tune with what our Constitution’s Framers wrote and intended.
To date, two Republicans and two Democrats are co-sponsoring HR 1253. However, this bill is unlikely to succeed because the federal government benefits from the current “War on Drugs.”
The irony is that most congressmen recognize that the Drug War is a waste of limited resources and manpower. Why is that they would not end the war on pot?
“The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).
Instead of honoring the marijuana laws of the states and save the taxpayers money, the federal government would rather crack down on people’s Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendment rights.
Sound religious and ethical arguments can be made against non-medical use of marijuana for, but the federal government has no right in trumping the states and peoples’ rights to use the plant as their laws decide.
Let’s hope more House Republicans and Democrats pass this bill for the Senate to vote on and place it on the president’s desk.
