cannabisnews.com: Not About Pot





Not About Pot
Posted by CN Staff on June 08, 2005 at 08:48:01 PT
Editorial
Source: Washington Post
Washington, D.C. -- The Supreme Court's decision Monday in the case of Gonzales v. Raich is a defeat for advocates of the medical use of marijuana, because the court ruled that federal drug laws can be enforced against patients even in states that would permit them to light up. But the true importance of Raich has nothing to do with drugs; it relates rather to the balance of power between the federal government and the states. The government's crusade against medical marijuana is a misguided use of anti-drug resources; that doesn't mean it's unconstitutional. A Supreme Court decision disallowing federal authority in this area would have been a disaster in areas ranging from civil rights enforcement to environmental protection.
The Constitution's commerce clause, which provided the foundation for the court's ruling in this case, is the foundation of the modern regulatory state, underpinning since the New Deal huge swaths of federal law: worker protections, just about all federal environmental law, laws prohibiting racial discrimination in private-sector employment. Over the past decade, however, the court has tacked away from its most expansive vision of national power, emphasizing that the commerce power is not unlimited. The court said, for example, that Congress can't use the clause to legislate against sexual assaults or to regulate gun possession near schools. That made sense; without some outer bound of the commerce power, Congress would have authority over anything. But the court's recent reconsideration of the commerce clause carried dangers, too. Limit the legislature too much and Congress lacks the power to run a modern country whose national policy is necessarily more ambitious than it was in the 18th century.The plaintiffs in Raich , patients who regard pot as essential medication for their conditions, contended that because their use of the drug is noncommercial and within a single state that tolerates medical marijuana, the federal government lacked the power to stop them. This may seem like an attractive principle, but consider its implications. Can Congress protect an endangered species that exists only in a single state and may be wiped out by some noncommercial activity? Can it force an employer who operates only locally to accommodate the disabled?Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the court, emphasized the critical principle that if Congress enacts a regulation aimed at "the interstate market in a fungible commodity" -- in this case drugs -- "that the regulation ensnares some purely intrastate activity is of no moment." Justice Antonin Scalia reached the same conclusion for slightly different reasons. The result is a six-justice majority that stands strongly against a revolutionary approach to commerce clause jurisprudence. While questions remain, the importance of this cross-ideological statement is enormous -- even if it means the Justice Department can continue harassing sick people.Source: Washington Post (DC)Published: Wednesday, June 8, 2005; Page A20Copyright: 2005 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htmGetting Tough With The Terminally Illhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20811.shtmlThe Court and Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20809.shtmlIn The Grip of Reefer Madnesshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20807.shtml 
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Comment #21 posted by jose melendez on June 08, 2005 at 20:03:43 PT
about pot
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n910/a09.html?397 "It's the case of 'nothing else worked so let's try this.' And it worked." Dr.  John Charles, medical director of the Grand Strand Regional Medical Center http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n910/a03.html?397 Marinol is the trade name for the drug Dronabinol, a synthetic oral preparation of one of 66 active compounds in Cannabis sativa, the marijuana plant.  It itself has been studied to relieve symptoms of nausea, vomiting and poor appetite in cancer patients, rather than causing these symptoms itself. Unfortunately, it works less well clinically than the herb from which it comes ( the marijuana plant ).  This is a case where patients get better results from the herb itself --a complex mixture of many compounds -- rather than a synthetic compound of only one supposed "active ingredient." This principle often carries throughout the world of botanical medicine. Pamela A.  Pappas, M.D. 
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Comment #20 posted by BGreen on June 08, 2005 at 14:19:54 PT
POLL
Do you think that patients who use marijuana as a prescribed medical treatment should be prosecuted?Yes: 16.8%No: 83.2%Total Votes: 738
Springfield (MO) News-Leader Poll
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 14:15:02 PT
GreenJoy
I love it! LOL!
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Comment #18 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 13:49:00 PT
The Fat Lady
 The Fat Lady told me she has a really bad back. She ain't gonna bust no high notes until she can have her MMJ in peace!
               GJ
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 13:25:00 PT
AgaetisByrjun 
Feathers are pretty. I have two beautiful Japanese willow trees. Take care of your health and take a deep breath and know the old expression is true. It isn't over til the fat lady sings. She might be humming but not singing yet! In time she will!
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Comment #16 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 13:22:10 PT
My ancestors also tell me...
 I should change my handle to TypoJoy. do to do etc. 
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Comment #15 posted by AgaetisByrjun on June 08, 2005 at 13:09:38 PT
FoM
My dog has got feathers, too: well, I've only ever heard it called "feathering", but I guess that means that the individual outgrowths of hair are called feathers! You learn something every day.I haven't been posting here lately since my bipolar started acting up again. It's been a bit rough and the Supremes haven't helped matters; I'm on ten pills a day and I'm only 19 years old. And there isn't a single drug that's helped as much as pot, but I've decided to give it up for the summer to feel well while straight (and then I'll feel better while high).Re: the feathering: very elegant effect. I've always liked weeping willows, ivy, kudzu, things like that; it's nice to have the same kind of thing in a pet.Best of luck.
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Comment #14 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 11:39:30 PT
FoM
 I can love what's left of the the land. I can love my neighbor. I can love good people. I can try to love bad people. Not gonna love the system. Not gonna love this government. I have a lot of ancestors that died for this country. They tell me they are not pleased either. They tell me to keep my negativity in check. They tell me do to do all I am capable of to help make it a better place...even if I'm living in Amsterdam. GJ 
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 11:16:22 PT
GreenJoy 
We do have some absolutely brilliant and most important to me kind folks here on CNews. Today is a new day. A day to start again. I know the battle is hard but they do notice that we are very hard to eliminate. I want so much to love my country again. 
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Comment #12 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 11:12:10 PT
Butterfly Sneezes
 I do learn something new every day doin the hang at Cnews. 
Maybe I'll send this info to Random House. They are supposed  to have the low down on such things. Maybe I'll get a new dictionary. Life has been very hard indeed FoM. Many days when 
I can only manage to read here. That by itself is a great thing to be able to do and I have been really impressed with some brilliant writing by many who post here! Many Thanks!
             GJ
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 10:47:16 PT
GreenJoy
Not weathered but blooded. I'll clarify. Cold blood horses are easy to handle and hot blood horses are high strung and a little wacky like me and like a race horse. If you cross the two you get a warm blooded horse. I will always love horses even though I don't have any here anymore. It's good to laugh when life gets really hard!
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Comment #10 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 10:23:41 PT
Really?
 You mean cold, warm, and hot weather horses. Yes? My laughs are way too far and few between. Thanks FoM! :-) GJ
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 10:15:30 PT
GreenJoy
I'm glad it made you laugh. Yes there are cold, warm and hot blooded horses.
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Comment #8 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 10:13:54 PT
Well La De Freakin Da
 I still have Daniel Webster backing me up. And now your trying to tell me there are "cold blooded" horses? Are you sure that's not some giant lizard. Some kinda lost dinosaur? :-) Ha! GJ
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 10:13:45 PT
dongenero
I don't think you'll get in trouble. Right now we all are scared. It is understandable to worry but that is what controls us is fear.
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Comment #6 posted by dongenero on June 08, 2005 at 10:10:24 PT
could be in trouble
I sure hope that by outting myself as having a tomato garden, I don't wake up to U.S. federal gun barrels pointed at my head one morning!
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Comment #5 posted by dongenero on June 08, 2005 at 09:56:23 PT
decided to write the editor on this one
Dear Editor,
I can understand the use of the federal government's elastic, Commerce Clause in protecting the civil and human rights of citizens and even in the protection of endangered species. I do not however, think that these issues stand as a reasonable comparison to the personal cultivation and use of medical marijuana in a state that has voted to allow such activity. This application of the Commerce Clause is not about protecting rights of minorities, workers or endangered animals. No, this abuse of the Commerce Clause is about limiting freedom and rights of individuals in order to control an activity which had no victim. This abuse of the Commerce Clause has in fact been used to violate the rights of these people and in fact cause them harm and suffering.A better analogy to this Supreme Court decision would be my tomato garden. Because I grow my own tomatoes, I do not buy them at the grocery store. I therefore affect the interstate commerce of commercial tomato growers negatively.
I sure hope the federal government doesn't come after me for my tomato garden. With this Supreme Court decision, I suppose they would have the right to if they wished.So, with this Supreme Court finding, what commerce are they protecting? I suppose that they are protecting the black market marijuana traffickers who would be negatively affected by terminally ill patients growing their own marijauna rather than buying the out of state marijauna on the street.This is our federal government on drugs.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 09:54:07 PT
GreenJoy
On the foot of a horse is a fetlock and from the fetlock some particularly cold blooded horses grow excessive hair like the Clydesdales you can see in all the beer commercials. They are called horse feathers! Ta Da! LOL!
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Comment #3 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 09:50:59 PT
FoM
 horse-feathers 1. rubbish; nonsense. (used to express contempt, annoyance, dismissal, etc.) [ 1925-30 Amer.; eupemism for HORSESH*T ] Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. FoM. You had me worried a bit that maybe there actually are some horses with feathers. :-)
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 08, 2005 at 09:30:49 PT
GreenJoy
A trivia question. Do you know what horse feathers are? I'm a horse person so I wanted to break the mood of seriousness a minute and ask.
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Comment #1 posted by GreenJoy on June 08, 2005 at 09:23:22 PT
Horse Feathers
 "Limit the legislature too much and Congress lacks the power to run a modern country whose national policy is neccessarily more ambitious than it was in the 18th century." Allowing the pained, sick, and dying to use the most effective medicine without the DEA coming in with guns, taking that medicine away, and adding massively more trauma to their lives is not too much of a limitation on Congress. Show me an endangered species that is soley threatened by an entirely non commercial activity. An employer that operates only locally should accomodate the disabled via city ordinance or state law if not by common human decency.    GJ
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