Can California Legalize Marijuana?

[SirPwn4lot]

It should be as legal as alcohol in my opinion, with the slight variation that you can grow it without any permit or license.

 

[phattonez]

Since drugs are not illegal under the constitution, then I see no problem with California legalizing it.

But who cares about the constitution anymore?

 

[justabubba]

If Arizona can't enforce immigration laws because it "trumps" or mirrors federal law how come California should be able to legalize a federally illegal substance? I don't think California can legally legalize marijuana as it is illegal at the federal level.

much as it irks me to have to admit this, you make an excellent point

 

[GPS_Flex]

much as it irks me to have to admit this, you make an excellent point

Yeah, it's like the rule of law is suddenly worthless. San Francisco can defy federal law all it wants because....it is SF. What is up with that?

We are either a nation of laws or we aren't. We can't have the POTUS and his AGOTUS picking and choosing like this.

 

[Badfish420]

Yeah, it's like the rule of law is suddenly worthless. San Francisco can defy federal law all it wants because....it is SF. What is up with that?

We are either a nation of laws or we aren't. We can't have the POTUS and his AGOTUS picking and choosing like this.

thats is why the DEA and the war on drugs FAIL any federal crackdown of State-level protection of the law must tip-toe around and bust the dealers at a slip up. < huge drain on taxpayer money. But this is the best way the government can enforce anti-drug laws because of the constitution. and I doubt anyone would want to change the constitution over laws that most consider to be unfair, so the only sensible option is to legalize it. NOBEL PRIZE PLEASE.

 

[GPS_Flex]

thats is why the DEA and the war on drugs FAIL any federal crackdown of State-level protection of the law must tip-toe around and bust the dealers at a slip up. < huge drain on taxpayer money. But this is the best way the government can enforce anti-drug laws because of the constitution. and I doubt anyone would want to change the constitution over laws that most consider to be unfair, so the only sensible option is to legalize it. NOBEL PRIZE PLEASE.

So you support the Arizona Immigration laws then right?

 

[Badfish420]

So you support the Arizona Immigration laws then right?

Not in the slightest, I don't really see any connection whatsoever.

 

[cpgrad08]

They can but it's still banned under federal law.

 

[Penrod]

They can but it's still banned under federal law.

A law thats unconstituional is no law at all.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

Can the executive branch pull enforcement in California? I.E. just order the DEA not to pursue marijuana enforcement in California. I imagine this would have to come all the way from the white house.
Or would this require a change to the federal law via congress?.

what happened in my city and in the UK was that enforcing marijuana laws was set to be "lowest priority." In my city it was a ballot initiative--or something similar--and in the UK it was just a Scotland Yard directive.

Well...since the president isnt a king I dont think that really matters. The judicial can interpret...the legislative COULD overturn it by mandate but its unlikely. All the president can do is influence policy and sign legislation.

He can set policy for the executive branch. Which, I think, includes the DoJ. All he would have to do is make the enforcement a "lowest priority" thing.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

Since drugs are not illegal under the constitution, then I see no problem with California legalizing it.

But who cares about the constitution anymore?

The Constitution sets treaties as valid laws of the land. Iirc, marijuana's illegality comes out of a treaty.

 

[ecofarm]

what happened in my city and in the UK was that enforcing marijuana laws was set to be "lowest priority." In my city it was a ballot initiative--or something similar--and in the UK it was just a Scotland Yard directive.

My understanding is that the UK decriminalized it (presumably, in small quantity), effectively making possession a traffic violation - without criminal repercussions. I doubt your city did that.

 

[Penrod]

The Constitution sets treaties as valid laws of the land. Iirc, marijuana's illegality comes out of a treaty.

So we can make a treaty outlawing anything we want. I dont think so. If you dont hAVE THE RIGHT TO YOUR OWN BODY YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A SLAVE.

Tell me how is it a constitutional amendment was needed to make booze illegal? Whats the difference?

 

[The_Patriot]

The Constitution sets treaties as valid laws of the land. Iirc, marijuana's illegality comes out of a treaty.

Up to a point it does, but even a treaty cannot violate the Constitution of the United States. If a treaty does violate the Constitution of the United States it is to be treated the same as any other unconstitutional law. It is null and void from the moment of its passage. This is why any law that removes rights from the people must be in the form of an amendment using the amendment process. See Volstead Act.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

My understanding is that the UK decriminalized it (presumably, in small quantity), effectively making possession a traffic violation - without criminal repercussions. I doubt your city did that.

They may have done that since Scotland Yard made their policy. Idk.
A quick skimming of Google suggests that Scotland Yard made their policy change in 2001.
UK may have gone further since then.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

Tell me how is it a constitutional amendment was needed to make booze illegal? Whats the difference?

For starters, we probably couldn't find any country that would make such a treaty with us.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

Up to a point it does, but even a treaty cannot violate the Constitution of the United States. If a treaty does violate the Constitution of the United States it is to be treated the same as any other unconstitutional law. It is null and void from the moment of its passage. This is why any law that removes rights from the people must be in the form of an amendment using the amendment process. See Volstead Act.

Sure, but the step that's missing is establishing that the treaty violates the Constitution.
Ftr, I am not sure how exactly marijuana became illegal in the US.

 

[Indon]

By constitutional theory, California may legalize marijuana but may not export it, as it would then violate federal anti-drug law.

In practice, the feds can probably get away with shutting down any distribution system which could lead to exportation of the drug, which would require at the least a sophisticated marijuana distributing and licensing system on California's part to get around.

 

[ecofarm]

They may have done that since Scotland Yard made their policy. Idk.
A quick skimming of Google suggests that Scotland Yard made their policy change in 2001.
UK may have gone further since then.

I found this.

In 2004, cannabis was downgraded to a class C substance... On 26 January 2009: Cannabis was reclassified as a Class B substance.

Legality of cannabis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And we might note, just for fun:

On November 10, 2010, Cartrain and fellow street artist Vagabond[14] managed to smuggle a Cannabis joint inside the Palace of Westminster. Whilst Nick Clegg was answering PM's questions he proceeded to light up and shout "Decriminalise Cannabis" in the House Of Commons and then passed the joint around each other. They were later cautioned and released without charge.[15]

Cartrain in a statement told the Daily Mail

'They said they would put me in a cell under Big Ben, which I said sounds amazing, like the most expensive hotel in London, but then they decided to let me go when they realised I was quite keen to be arrested.'

Cartrain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[The_Patriot]

Sure, but the step that's missing is establishing that the treaty violates the Constitution.
Ftr, I am not sure how exactly marijuana became illegal in the US.

Marijuana became illegal originally in the 1936 Geneva Trafficking Conventions and in 1937 Congress of the United States passed the Marijuana Tax Act that made possession of it for non-medical and industrial uses criminal. It was an excise tax law that was very expensive.

 

[Penrod]

Marijuana became illegal originally in the 1936 Geneva Trafficking Conventions and in 1937 Congress of the United States passed the Marijuana Tax Act that made possession of it for non-medical and industrial uses criminal. It was an excise tax law that was very expensive.

And it was all about stopping hemp production not pot. Hemp would have put a big hurt on Dupont and its better living through chemicals. It also threatened Randolph Hearsts paper industry. It was also race based and anti mexican.

Hemp may just be thr greatest plant known to man and the most useful.

 

[gslack18]

Colorado has been suffering since 9/11 since a large sector of our economy was based off of tourism and people have been afraid to fly, in 2001 we had 3.2% unemployment and now we have 9.8 % unemployment. The MMJ has really helped the economic sector here a lot, and I really do not care if a bunch of stoners want to go smoke pot for all their "health issues" at least it isn't narcotics like Oxycodone and Morphine they're using anymore. The thing is though it does come down to states right and the states can't effectively say piss off to the federal government anymore due to the fact that the federal government has the Interstate Commerce Clause, authority over the national guard (thanks George Wallace) and the benefit of income tax. The only way to really tell the DEA to piss off or any federal agency is train a highly militant police force. If I was governor and the Federal government wanted to come into my state and hurt my economy even more, I would tell them to go to hell and make the state police send them there if they tried to set a foot in a single Dispensary.

 

[gslack18]

Marijuana became illegal because in the early 20th century the Federal government saw it as something that they could use to get the Mexicans to go back to mexico and to supress the Jazz movement in the south, so it became illegal out of racism. Now It is just illegal because you can't profit from something that is a weed (Pun intended)