Conservatives often get accused of
trying to boss people around, telling them what to do and what not to
do. We get fingers pointed at us, saying that we should be more
tolerable of other people, especially those who do not share our
views. We are presented as uptight, ultra-religious, snobbish prudes
who think we are better than everybody else and look down on all of
those who are not like us. Conservatives don't want anybody to be
free, to have fun, to enjoy living. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We read it and
hear it all of the time. Those of us who are true conservatives,
though, know darn well that we are the most freedom-loving and
fun-having folks around. Unfortunately, we get lumped in with the
right-wing statists and absolutists, people who want absolute power
and authority to make others conform to their ideal. True
conservatives know for a fact that forcing people to willingly
conform without a fight is impossible, and that enforcing laws and
regulations that require people to conform to an ideal always leads
to the deaths of the nonconformists. True conservatives believe in
maximizing personal liberty within the bounds of a strong society. We
believe in good government, no more than what is necessary, and we
believe that any government must submit itself to the will of the
people, not the other way around. Today, we have another case,
unfortunately, where the government, via bureaucratic regulations, is
trying to force people to submit to its ideal image.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, one of the many bureaucratic arms of the federal executive branch, announced today that it will not change the classification of marijuana from its current classification. The DEA classifies marijuana as one the most dangerous drugs out there, as bad as cocaine and heroin. For decades, it has been said that marijuana is nothing but a dangerous “gateway drug,” a drug that people start using to get “high,” but eventually loses its effect on them. When marijuana loses its desired affect, marijuana users supposedly go and seek other more powerful illegal drugs and take them, instead, in order to get their “fix.” The feds insist that there is no medicinal benefit to any Schedule I drug, of which marijuana is one, and that these drugs have a high potential for abuse. Whether this is true or not is debatable. What are not debatable, however, are the deleterious effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption and the impact that these two legal drugs have had on our society.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, one of the many bureaucratic arms of the federal executive branch, announced today that it will not change the classification of marijuana from its current classification. The DEA classifies marijuana as one the most dangerous drugs out there, as bad as cocaine and heroin. For decades, it has been said that marijuana is nothing but a dangerous “gateway drug,” a drug that people start using to get “high,” but eventually loses its effect on them. When marijuana loses its desired affect, marijuana users supposedly go and seek other more powerful illegal drugs and take them, instead, in order to get their “fix.” The feds insist that there is no medicinal benefit to any Schedule I drug, of which marijuana is one, and that these drugs have a high potential for abuse. Whether this is true or not is debatable. What are not debatable, however, are the deleterious effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption and the impact that these two legal drugs have had on our society.
Two states, Colorado and Washington,
have “legalized” the use and sale of recreational marijuana, and
each state collects taxes on the sale of the prepared weed. Several
states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana and have strict
guidelines for its production, prescription, and use by patients.
Legislation to legalize medical marijuana is pending in several other
states. Is this a good thing? According to the tenets of true
conservatism, it is. Conservatism demands that government not only be
limited, but that it be assembled and conducted at the lowest and
most effective level reasonably possible. This means, that if a
people form a sovereign state, the majority of decisions affecting
the lives and well-being of the people within that state should be
made and enforced at the level of that state's government. In the
United States, our Constitution calls for state sovereignty in
matters such as the production and use of marijuana, but by claiming
jurisdiction under the so-called “commerce clause” in the
Constitution (Article 1, Section 8), and through the exercise of
enforcement via agencies such as the DEA, the United States federal
government has literally taken that right away from the states. A
real conservative must be happy to see that some states have, at
least in the matter of marijuana, started to assert their rightful
jurisdiction and submit to the authority of their citizens. How long
this holds up, however, remains to be seen.
What can be done, at the state level, to once and for all end federal government interference in the affairs of the sovereign states and their citizens? What can Americans do to reassert themselves and make the government work for them, once again? Simply put, the best solution is to have what is called an Article 5 Convention of States, as called for in the Constitution. Medical and recreational marijuana are but two small areas where the federal government has overstepped its lawful bounds and imposed the will of unelected bureaucrats and special interests on the people of the United States. Let us just hope and pray that if God so wills, that the individual states reclaim and reassert their legal authority in other matters of state, as well.
What can be done, at the state level, to once and for all end federal government interference in the affairs of the sovereign states and their citizens? What can Americans do to reassert themselves and make the government work for them, once again? Simply put, the best solution is to have what is called an Article 5 Convention of States, as called for in the Constitution. Medical and recreational marijuana are but two small areas where the federal government has overstepped its lawful bounds and imposed the will of unelected bureaucrats and special interests on the people of the United States. Let us just hope and pray that if God so wills, that the individual states reclaim and reassert their legal authority in other matters of state, as well.
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