FROM: Pragya HandaRE: The legal implications of passing medical marijuana laws in PennsylvaniaDATE: March 7th, 3013The legal question under consideration here is what effect any State medical marijuana legislature passed under Pennsylvania law would have in conjunction to Federal Law. Will any future medical marijuana program violate Federal law? Does the Federal government have the power to limit the passage of medical marijuana laws by the States? If state law enforcement officials will not raid medicinal marijuana providers, do Federal law enforcement officials have the legal right to do so? Each of the above multifaceted questions with it nuances and implications must be considered in its own right. After a careful examination of federal statutes and various precedents established by common law, it can be determined that decriminalization and even medical marijuana state laws violate the Federal Law. The federal government led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has the legal right to raid and prosecute medical marijuana providers and users anywhere within the United States. However despite that, federal government does not have the power to limit the passage of medical marijuana laws by the states and cannot rely on or compel State officials to prosecute a federal crime in opposition to the State law. Many States such as California currently have a medicinal marijuana program. Under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, ” seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician”. However, the State Law is preceded by the Federal Controlled Substances Act (21 U. S. C. §8XXX) which grants the Federal Government jurisdiction over possession, distribution and consumption of all drugs, including marijuana under the Congress’ Commerce Clause authority. Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I under this Act drug which makes it unlawful for all U. S. citizens ” to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance”. This is direct opposition of the California State Law and thus is clearly violating Federal Law. Under the supremacy clause, in a conflict between Federal and State law, Federal law always prevails. ” Federal law applies throughout California and the United States, not just on federal property” (Americans for Safe access)However, while the California State Marijuana law infringes upon federal law, under the tenth Amendment the federal government does not have legal power to limit the passage of these laws. The 10th Amendment states that ” The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This essentially means that the federal government cannot make or prohibit laws with respect to individual States outside the jurisdiction afforded to them under the Inter-State commerce clause. In United States v. Lopez, Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, a federal law mandating a gun-free zone on and around public school campuses, was struck down because, ” criminal statute that by its terms has nothing to do with ” commerce” or any sort of economic enterprise, however broadly one might define those terms.” The inter-state commerce clause did not hold and made it unconstitutional for the Congress to dictate such criminal laws whose jurisdiction belonged solely in the hands of the State. Similarly, in Printz v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled the Brady Handgun Prevention Act that mandated state and local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on persons attempting to purchase handguns was unconstitutional and violated the 10th Amendment. Under the CSA act and consequent federal sentencing decrees play a role in how State governments formulate their local marijuana laws. ” In United States v. Booker, a Supreme Court decision from January 2005, the court ruled that the federal sentencing guidelines (as outlined above) are advisory and no longer mandatory.” (Americans for Safe Access)The Act further states that there is ” No provision of this subchapter shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of the Congress to occupy the field in which that provision operates, including criminal penalties, to the exclusion of any State law on the same subject matter which would otherwise be within the authority of the State”. The Constitution does not allow for the federal government either to order state governments to create any particular criminal law or to require state and local police to enforce federal criminal laws. This means that many of the penalties for the low-level offenses mostly consisting of small-quantity possession and consumption charges, even with prior convictions, do not have minimum mandatory sentencing laws. The sentencing guidelines are solely advisory with specifications set for only the maximum penalty limit. As such they are not legally binding on States who are free to set their own sentencing to such offenses. This brings us to the question of prosecution of offenders of the federal marijuana law in such States. In Gonzales v. Raich, a recent and relevant case highlighting the contention between the State and Federal law, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Federal government on the issue of ” whether Congress’ power to regulate interstate markets for medicinal substances encompasses the portions of those markets that are supplied with drugs produced and consumed locally.” In this case, a California woman sued the Drug Enforcement Administration after her medical marijuana crop was seized and destroyed by federal agents. The ruling of this case neither invalidates the California Law while at the same time establishing the supremacy of Federal Law and enabling but not advocating prosecution of such patients by federal agents. This case establishes that marijuana as an economic ” class of activities” that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce. As stated in Wickard v. Filburn, ” even if appellee’s activity be local and though it may not be regarded as commerce, it may still, whatever its nature, be reached by Congress if it exerts a substantial economic effect on interstate commerce.” This virtually ensures that all activities related to this drug, whether inter or intrastate fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal government to prosecute as they choose. The responsibility of prosecuting such individuals in states is solely the responsibility of the Federal government. In People v. Tilehkooh (2003), the court found that California courts ” long ago recognized that state courts do not enforce the federal criminal statutes.” The same court also stated ” the federal criminal law is cognizable as such only in the federal courts.” The state officials and police cannot be coerced or even expected to prosecute on the basis of Federal law over State law. In conclusion, as long as Marijuana remains a Section I drug under the Federal Controlled substances Act and its medical purposes are not proven and established on the federal level, any medical marijuana law contrary to it passed by a State violates federal law. This allows federal law enforcement officials to prosecute medical marijuana patients, even if they grow their own medicine and even if they reside in a state where medical marijuana use is protected under state law. Even small levels of local marijuana are under Federal jurisdiction through its Commerce clause authority established by the Supreme Court. While the federal government does not have the legal power to directly limit such state laws, it does have the power to prosecute vigorously under individuals in all of U. S under it and withhold grants to states until anti-marijuana legislation is restored.
Related Essay Samples
Agreement made by minors are not contracts
The mortgage is not valid, therefore the plaintiff cannot recover the sum advanced to the defendant, because a minor is not competent to contract and hence the minor's contract is void. The third exception that allows a minor to enter ...
4th, 5th, 6th amendments
Discussion of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the Bill of Rights The Fourth, Fifth to Sixth Amendment of the Bill Rights relate to the rights of an individual when he or she is free from illegal seizures from ...
Forum: health care reform
Health Care Reform THESIS MENT The study represents the main argument of the Obama Administration in front of the US Supreme Court about the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The government also argued in front of ...
Health and care essay sample
Grievance Raise my grievance to employer and it can be resolved and settled the matter efficiently and quickly.3. I am being paid to a job and if I do not follow the agreed ways, I could cause harm to myself ...
Free essay on risks and benefits of cloud computing
The Benefits and Risks of Cloud Computing: CliftonLarsonAllen LLP. The Risks And Benefits Of Cloud Computing.
Legal, ethical, and compliance requirements that must be addressed before implementing research paper sample
As such, it is extremely essential to ensure employees are adequately skilled and knowledgeable through continuous training and development. An organization intending to carry out a training program needs to assess the training needs and then recruit knowledgeable trainers.
Parole for a felon conviction in the states of georgia prison system research paper
The processes are specifically designed to impose the constitutional rights of the suspected criminals and the defendants. The process starts from the police contact with the suspected criminal, arrest of the suspected criminal, investigating the crime, trial of the suspected ...
Comparative criminal justice system assignment
The President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Arthur Shallots, stated that capital punishment is unconstitutional because everyone has the right to life. The removal of the death penalty from this country shocked the world since Pretoria, a capital ...
Accepting human differences without judging those differences to be good or bad essay examples
It is not fair to judge people by our personal standards. They will become a soldier to kill people even if they do not know anything about the people they are killing.
Syria’s political history (1920-1962) essay sample
In 1922 Syria was divided by French into three autonomous States; the Alawi region in the north, the Sunni which was a Muslim state in the centre, and a Druze state in the southern region. Shaykh Ismail Harirwas a rebel ...
Rising health care costs
In their analysis of the effects of increasing use of private insurance on the Australian healthcare system Hall and Maynard identify that the strategy of subsidising insurance premiums has been expensive but electorally successful. Also, the assertion of getting rid ...
Advice for nadia law employment essay
The fundamentals of Maternity rights are intended to extent the period during which women can stay at home with their young child by giving them both the right to return to their former employment for a certain period after the ...
Free critical thinking on technology
Particularly, electronic medical records are associated with the risk of inappropriate access, record tampering, record loss, and the risk of technology becoming obsolete. Limitations to the utilization of electronic medical records byhealthcare professionals: a case study of small medical practices.
Good essay about criminal justice
The concept of punishment and retributions has been part of the American justice system for a while. The History of Measuring Crime, London: Sage.
Comfort and stab resistant performance of body armor fabrics and vests literature review samples
The body armor panel was created to guard the vital human organs and ensure no restrictions to the wearer's movement. At the same time, the armor needed to provide enough of comfort for the wearer.
Punishment as a motivational concept
The intensity of the punishment being given is ascribed in accordance to the degree of behavior modification and improvement that is sought. It has been tagged as Total since it encompasses three major aspects: Quality of return to gratify the ...
History of the testators intentions law equity essay
In case the testator's intentions are unclear the courts apply the rule of construction so as to determine the meaning of the will. Be that as it may, the conclusion which may be drawn from the arguments of the proponents ...
Separation of powers in the uk
Montesquieu formulated this concept in the eighteenth century and in ' L'Esprit des Lois' wrote; " All would be lost if the same man or the same body of principle of men, either of nobles, or of the people, exercised ...
Criminal justice system of the philippines assignment
It is composed of the Prosecution Staff in the Office of the Secretary of Justice headed by the Chief State Prosecutor, the Regional State Prosecution Offices headed by Regional State Prosecutors, and the Provincial and City Prosecution Offices headed by ...
Alternative dispute resolution methods
Mediator helps the involved parties to understand the point of views, interests, and interpretations of each other to resolve the matter. Arbitration In this method of conflict resolution, the disputing parties hand over the charge to third party to decide ...
Confession essay samples
An admission can be defined as a statement made by a person that points towards the guilt of the maker of the statement and more often than not suggests participation in the crime. On the other hand a confession is ...
Engineering analysis of a domestic dishwasher report example
The existence of the dish washing device has become a staple in many homes because, unlike the manual dish cleaning process, dishwashers spray the hot water in the temperature range of 55-75 degrees centigrade on the dishes. A lever is ...
Essay on illegal drugs case courtroom observation
In the criminal trial, the judge will instruct the prosecution and the defense to make use of the principles of law that will serve as a guide that will prove the innocence and guilt of the defendant.f. The court room ...
Good international commercial law thesis example
The international trade of goods and services was and is the greatest part of the economic life in the World. The new Lex Mercatoria The introduction of Peter Flanagan to its article " Demythologising the law merchant: the impropriety of ...
Moral and rights essays example
The punishment should make a person in to a follower of moral values, but death penalty does not teaches anything and does not going to change the entire society against crime. Harming a person is an immoral and criminals will ...