|
|
It is de rigueur for some politicians to declare themselves believers in constitutionally limited government.
It seems this belief is limited, all too often, when the principles of constitutionally limited government conflict with something they believe to be a “great idea.” Apparently “great ideas” trump the constitution.
Many Republicans are proponents of tort reform. They believe frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of doing business and that capping damages in civil lawsuits is a great idea.
There is such a bill pending in Congress. It would
“…put a three-year statute of limitations on medical lawsuits, cap non-economic damages at $250,000, and limit punitive damages to $250,000 or twice the economic damages, whichever is greater. It would apply to lawsuits in federal and state courts…”
Apparently this is such a great idea it trumps the Constitution.
Nowhere among the enumerated powers of Article I, Section 8 is Congress given the authority to tell states how to run their civil justice systems. To argue that the Commerce Clause authorizes Congress to do so is a purely progressive notion. It is a repudiation of the Tenth Amendment. It is repudiation of a constitutionally limited government.
Yet it is Republicans, the party that proclaims itself the “limited government” party, that is behind this bill.
Those Republicans in favor of this bill believe tort reform trumps the Constitution.
They either do not understand what they are doing or they have very malleable principles.
Likewise, any congressperson proclaiming to be a believer in the Tenth Amendment should be working to defund the DEA’s effort to crack down on medical marijuana providers in states that have legalized the plant for such use. To the extent marijuana is planted, cultivated, harvested, sold and consumed entirely within a state, one cannot be consistent and support both the DEA enforcement of these federal laws and the Tenth Amendment. The federal government has zero legitimate authority to enforce federal laws against such medical marijuana. (Yes, I know the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to the contrary. However, the Supreme Court can declare the sun is the moon, but it does not make it so.)
The current conflict between the DEA and state law presents an excellent opportunity for states to assert their sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment. Colorado, for example, should tell the federal government that enforcement of federal marijuana laws in Colorado is ultra vires and msut be stopped. If the feds persist, the federal agents acting unconstitutionally should be arrested by local or state law enforcement.
Of course, such action in Colorado would require not only a principled belief in the Constitution, it requires balls. Sadly, both are entirely lacking among state officials.
This presents an excellent opportunity for those that believe in the United States Constitution: a chance to actually enforce it.
The Federal regulation of a plant grown in this state, harvested in this state, sold in this state and consumed in the state is a farce. None of the enumerated powers of Article, Section 8 gives the feds the authority to regulate this activity. Using the interstate commerce clause as a justification is nonsense, yet we countenance it because the US Supreme Court said we should. What sheep we are. The feds can not make the moon the sun by declaring it so. It is time we assert our sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment and stop the fed’s unconstitutional usurpation of state power.
How many “conservative” Republicans would be willing to enforce the Tenth Amendment when the issue is marijuana? On the other hand, how many “progressive’ Democrats want the feds to butt out of this issue, but want them involved in health care?
It is hypocrisy to pick and choose when the Constitution should be applied on a case-by-case basis depending on the issue. The enumerated powers and the Tenth Amendment always apply, even when you don’t want them to.
According to the Denver Post, “[s]tate law enforcement officials . . . have broken up an alleged marijuana-trafficking organization that was using Colorado’s medical-marijuana laws as cover.” (See “Marijuana growers create smokescreen for trafficking ring.”)
As “law-and-order” types revel in their pointless little “victory,” I ask small-government types to consider:
How much tax money was spent on this?
Where else could that money have been spent?
What could you have done with your share of that money?
How much money could the state make by taxing the sale of marijuana?
It is hypocritical to profess a belief in individual liberty, limited government and personal responsibility and at the same time advocate the use of government resources – and force – to stop marijuana growers.
The war against marijuana is based on the belief that individuals should not have liberty, that big government is necessary to impose public policy for the “common good” and that people are too stupid to be personally responsible.
Is there any other conclusion to be drawn except that a belief in criminalizing marijuana is antithetical to the liberty movement?
If not, please help me understand.
Dear Friend,
Consider this your own private invitation, this is no stunt. New site temporary address, http://savebill.homestead.com/index.html
if you have any digital pics of me in action please forward now. Thanks.
“Village Inn”
207 West Wolfensberger Road
Castle Rock, Colorado 80109-9632
303-688-3200
Last chance interview
COME ON OUT!
I am at 10% renal function with no intent to perform dialysis, I have a living donor and passed all the tests. NO National Registry for me, since I have a M.M.J. License in Colorado, an use 1 gram daily, the V.A. is denying me a transplant on a Genetic disease… Get the full story first hand on how they deal with the troops. I am having a press conference this, Thursday JULY 15, 2010 2 pm till 4pm I pay for standing at the plate and serving.
Last Chance to question? ALL Recording devices,
Flash Photography, videoing is encouraged.
Utube’s & Written Words, will come out of this Interview.
Learn first hand more of the Deception vs. Compassion
History will be presented and present
Sincerely,
William B. Thorne
970-388-2182
Below the jump is a press release from Sensible Colorado.
From their website:
Sensible Colorado envisions a system where drug use becomes a health issue, not a crime issue, through innovative drug policy reform that focuses on prevention and harm reduction education, provides accessible treatment opportunities, and reduces incarcerations, crime, drug use by minors, and strains on the judicial system and police departments while increasing the resources available for healthcare and treatment.
Treating drug use like a health issue? Whoaaaa now… that’s just crazy talk.
For those “conservatives” that profess a belief in the Tenth Amendment and state sovereignty, do you mean it? Or do you only mean it when it is convenient?
My position is clear: Medical marijuana is a state issue, and the feds should stay the hell out of it.
All “conservatives” that support the DEA in this matter, please, never mention the Tenth Amendment again.
You don’t believe in it.
I will be at this event, waving a Tenth Amendment sign. I hope you’ll join me.
==================================
MEDIA ADVISORY — For event on Thursday, February 18
Contact: Brian Vicente, Sensible Colorado, 720-280-4067
Medical Marijuana Patients and Supporters to Rally at President Obama Event
Protesters call for end to recent “rogue” DEA raids; Release of licenced provider and recent arrestee Mark Bartkowicz
DENVER, CO — On Thursday, February 18, at an event to be attended by President Obama, medical marijuana patients and supporters will participate in a protest of the continuing federal raids of medical marijuana patients and providers in Colorado. This event is a response to the recent Drug Enforcement Administration raids of two front-range medical marijuana testing facilities and the Feb. 12 raid of a licensed medical marijuana grower in Highlands Ranch.
“These DEA raids are out of compliance with both the will of Colorado voters and that of the White House,” said Brian Vicente, event organizer and director of Sensible Colorado. “In particular, the recent, armed raid and arrest of licensed medical marijuana provider Mark Bartkowicz, highlights the rogue nature of the regional DEA office. “President Obama needs to be made aware of this agency’s miscreant actions.”
Colorado voters passed a medical marijuana law in 2000. In October, 2009, the Department of Justice issued a memo instructing federal agents to refrain from focusing resources on the arrest and prosecution of individuals following state medical marijuana laws. That memo is available here.
WHAT: Medical Marijuana Protest at Event Attended by President Obama
WHO: **PHOTO-OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE** with Sign-Waving Medical Marijuana Patient, Providers, and Supporters.
WHEN: Thursday, February 18 from 12-1pm
WHERE: Across from the Fillmore Auditorium, at the corner of Colfax and Clarkson in Denver, CO. See Directions HERE
# # #
Sensible Colorado is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting a more sensible, evidence-based approach to drugs and drug policy in Colorado. For more information visit http://www.SensibleColorado.org.
–
Brian Vicente, Executive Director
Sensible Colorado
P.O. Box 18768, Denver, CO 80218
Ph# 720 890 4247
Fax# 303 861 0915
brian@sensiblecolorado.org
Please visit www.sensiblecolorado.org to sign up for Sensible Colorado’s
free email updates.
–
Brian Vicente, Executive Director
Sensible Colorado
P.O. Box 18768, Denver, CO 80218
Ph# 720 890 4247
Fax# 303 861 0915
brian@sensiblecolorado.org
Please visit www.sensiblecolorado.org to sign up for Sensible Colorado’s
free email updates.
There is a problem with the over prescripion of medical marijuana in Colorado. Fortunately, the solution to the problem already exists.
The pro-big government statists in both major parties, however, can not let the “crisis” go to waste. The boom of medical marijuana providers in Colorado gives the statists another opportunity to create another layer of government bureaucracy and government control over individuals and the doctor/patient relationship.
For instance, Christian Thurstone, a “board-certified child/adoscent and addictions psychiatrist” laments the abuses of our state’s medical marijuana process ( see “Medical Marijuana and Teenagers, Smoke and Mirrors,”) in today’s Denver Post.
He complains that
In the last three months, I have seen more than a dozen young people — all between the ages of 18 and 25 and with histories of substance abuse — who received from other doctors what are essentially permission slips to smoke pot.
That presents a problem. It must be addressed.
However, Dr. Thurstone loses some credibility when he declares “Now, almost every day, a kid asks me, ‘Doc, how can marijuana be bad? It’s a medicine.’”
The good doctor is exasperated that he has to answer this question, as if the kid has a good point he can not refute.
That is an absurd conclusion. The kid does not have a good point. The doctor should tell the kid that valium, vicodin and oxycontin are medicine, too, and the kid should not be doing those things either, unless he has a medical need for them.
Of course, to answer in such a way is place marijuana on the same legitimate medicinal grounds as these prescription drugs. Dr. Thurstone does not wish to do this, and his bias is apparent.
(Of course, valium, vicodin and oxycontin are all more addictive and dangerous than marijuana, but let’s not confuse the issue with clarity).
Dr. Thurstone has a higher opinion of his ability to determine if patients need medical marijuana than his fellow MDs. He disagrees with many of them.
He probably has a point. But let’s not pretend that this is a new situation. Unethical MDs have wrongfully prescribed all kinds of medicine ever since the first prescription pad was printed.
Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson’s doctors immediately come to mind.
The problem is not medical marijuana. The problem is its inappropriate prescription by licensed medical professionals. There already exists a way to deal with incompetent and/or unethical doctors.
Anyone, even other doctors like Thurstone, can file a complaint with the Colorado Board of Medical Examiners if one believes a medical doctor is acting in an unethical manner. The checklist of potential complaints includes “overprescribing of medications.” It seems like Dr. Thurstone is in dire search of a solution that already exists, and it’s as obvious as a bong at a baptism.
It appears that the good doc’s real problem is that medical marijuana exists at all.
If one believes that a medical doctor is overprescribing a medicine, any medicine, report him to the board that already exists. There is no need to lobby the legislature for more government intrusion into citizens’ lives.
Physician, heal thyself. And leave the legislature out of it.
Many Colorado Republicans are against nationalized health care because they “don’t want the government coming between a patient and his doctor.”
But many of these same Colorado Republicans want MORE government regulation of medical marijuana to prevent doctors from prescribing that specific remedy.
It must be hard to keep principles straight when you really do not have any.
The headline in the print edition of today’s Denver Post is “AG: State needs rules.”
The AG referenced is Republican Attorney General John Suthers. The rules he desires are for government regulation of medical marijuana in the state.
His call for government regulations demonstrates, once again, that very few Republicans actually believe in freedom.
If he believed in freedom, he would know that the only rules and regulations necessary are provided by the free market.
|
Help Liberty on the Rocks (Denver) Grow. Donate Today!
Get Happy Hour Reminders!
|
