Law Essay 2018
Marijuana is mainly a federalism issue, but it also is about separation of powers. The states seem to not be following federal law and that doesn't make any sense. Federal law is the supreme law of the land according to the supremacy clause. The government has the substances listed as illegal and a federal crime to use it. That doesn’t seem to be stopping the states.
Marijuana is growing in popularity and is already legal in several states however, marijuana is not legal according to the federal government. The federal government states that marijuana is still illegal under the CSA but states are still making it legal. This shows that the federal government is limited. Separation of powers is meant to keep the government limited
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The CSA or controlled substances act restricts a lot. It makes the act of using marijuana illegal and a felony. With the use of it being a felony that means people could be sent to prison. There is already enough people in prison for marijuana related charges. If the laws changed then that mean we could release many of those inmates and help the overpopulation crisis in prisons. The united states has the largest prison population in the world. Each inmate costs around $60,000 per year. Around 18 percent of people charged with marijuana related crimes are sent to prison according to learnaboutsam.org. The war on marijuana is costing time and money. According to drug polocy.org over 653,249 people were arrested in 2016 for marijuana related reasons. Around 574,641 of those arrests were only for possession of marijuana. Many of these arrest were needed. Being high is definitely a big issue with marijuana being legalized. Driving while stoned is a big issue, it is much like driving while drunk. There needs to be laws made to regulate …show more content…
However checks and balances allow the states to disagree on federal laws. In 2013 then President Obama chose not to enforce federal marijuana laws. The Constitution states that it is the president's duty to enforce federal laws. If the president does not enforce this the states to do whatever want with marijuana laws. The federal government enforces the laws but Congress can change the laws if they accumulate enough votes and do the whole process.. That is what seems to be happening with congress leaning towards legalizing marijuana. In Gonzales V. Roinez Congress ruled that it could use its commerce power to ban and legalize marijuana. Congress has had the power to legalize marijuana all this time. The state legislature in Vermont has voted to ease up on the the marijuana laws. The state legislature voted to decriminilized having up one ounce if the adult 21 and up. This shows how the states are still free to make their own