by Derek Sheriff

Just when you thought Arizona couldn’t get any more provocative, or push any more of the federal government’s buttons, it looks like
America’s 48th state may actually become the 15th state to adopt another
very controversial law!

This proposed law, on the other hand, may actually make some people on the Left, as well as the Right, happy for a change. I have my doubts
about whether it will make those who put party above principle, or
anyone employed by the U.S. Department of Justice happy, however.

While Arizona was getting tons of media attention related to the passage of its high profile immigration enforcement law, (SB 1070), the
grassroots activists that were delivering more than 100 boxes of
petitions containing 252,000 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of
State’s office received little.

But this week, Fox 11 Arizona’s website reported:

“Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s office on Tuesday certified that organizers of the initiative campaign had turned in
enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot.”

What measure is he referring to?

The Medical Marijuana Initiative, of course! The initiative, which Arizona
voters will soon have a chance to vote into law this November, would do
seven things according to the Arizona Medical Marijuana
Policy Project’s website:

• Allow terminally and seriously ill patients who find relief from marijuana to use it with their doctors’ approval.
• Protect these seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking their doctor-recommended medicine.
• Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to legally purchase their medicine from tightly regulated clinics, as they would any other
  medicine — so they need not purchase it from the criminal market.
• Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana for medical use if a regulated medical marijuana clinic is
  not located within 25 miles of the qualifying patient.
• Create registry identification cards, so that law enforcement officials could easily tell who was a registered patient, and establish
  penalties for false statements and fraudulent ID cards.
• Allow patients and their caregivers who are arrested to discuss their medical use in court.
• Keep commonsense restrictions on the medical use of marijuana, including prohibitions on public use of marijuana and driving under the
  influence of marijuana.

The AMMPP, which is a grassroots organization, has been devoted to passing a medical marijuana initiative in Arizona in November 2010. As
they explain on their homepage:

“Currently, seriously ill people who use marijuana on the advice of their doctor to treat illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, and
multiple sclerosis are subject to arrest and imprisonment, simply for
trying to stimulate their appetite or alleviate their pain.”

Objections

People who often dismiss state laws allowing the use of medical marijuana always seem to argue that “federal law trumps state law” and
that federal “laws” still prohibit the possession, use, cultivation or
distribution of the plant, even for medical purposes.

It’s true that federal “laws” make no exceptions for those who are sick and suffering, and the Feds have claimed universal jurisdiction,
even over plants that are grown and consumed by patients in their own
home. But I wish more of these critics, (and all Americans for that
matter), would take the time to ask the following question:

“Which of the enumerated powers delegated to the federal government under the Constitution gives them the authority to prohibit
the cultivation or use of marijuana at all, for any reason?”

It’s a fair question, and I have yet to hear a satisfactory answer to it. Michael Boldin, founder of the Los Angeles based Tenth Amendment Center puts it this way:

“An honest reading of the Constitution with an original understanding of the Founders and Ratifiers makes it quite clear that
the federal government has no constitutional authority to override state
laws on marijuana. All three branches of the federal government,
however, have interpreted (and re-interpreted) the commerce clause of
the Constitution to authorize them to engage in this activity, even
though there’s supposedly no ‘legal’ commerce in the plant. At best,
these arguments are dubious; at worst an intentional attack on the
Constitution and your liberty.”

I know it’s difficult for educated, reasonably intelligent people to understand how cultivating, harvesting and consuming a plant, all on
one’s own property, is actually in fact, a form of “interstate
commerce”. However, that is only because it defies common sense, which
is something the unelected, black
robed demi-gods who preside over our federal court system do with
ease almost daily. We mere mundanes, on the other hand, lack their
special wisdom, which allows them to interpret the words of the
Constitution in a more innovative and sophisticated way. Our duty is to
stand in awe, bow our heads, wave incense before their judgement seats,
and to suppress any impulse we might have to think critically about
their interpretations.

Don’t be fooled. As far as medical marijuana is concerned, all marijuana that is produced within a state’s boundaries and stays there,
falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of that state!

Congressional Commerce Clause Abuse

It’s funny that the same “Commerce Clause”, which has been pervert ed by the federal government to prohibit the medical use of marijuana, was
also the same clause that was twisted
to justify passing the legislation that gave us Obamacare.
Fortunately, Arizona voters will have the opportunity to effectively
nullify both Obamacare and the federal prohibition of
medical marijuana this November.

Whether you approve of people using it for any reason, medical or otherwise, the fact of the matter is that unless and until the US
Constitution is properly amended (the way it had
to be in order to enact alcohol prohibition), the federal
government has no authority to interfere with seriously ill Arizonans
who decide to use marijuana with their state government’s permission.

The last time I checked, I discovered that although the 10th Amendment has been largely ignored by the Feds, it has not not been
officially repealed. Just like all health care decisions, a person’s
choice to use or not use Medical Marijuana is a sensitive and highly
personal decision. It’s a decision that should, at the very most, be
decided by we the people, in our own state, not by politicians or
unelected bureaucrats and judges in far off Washington, DC!

Like every other state level measure designed to nullify unconstitutional acts of federal usurpation, the Arizona Medical
Marijuana Initiative has the potential to be an unstoppable choice if
the people of Arizona simply resolve to exercise their constitutional
rights, with or without Washington, DC’s permission.

The County Sheriff, America’s Last Hope

But won’t the DEA come in and arrest people who are dispensing medical marijuana and/or even the sick and dying people who use it?

Well, the answer to that question largely depends on whether or not your state officials, especially your elected county sheriff, allows
them to get away with doing that.

More and more sheriffs and candidates who are running for the office of sheriff, are boldly coming out and frankly saying that they will not
tolerate federal agents who would dare to harass and arrest the innocent
people they have sworn to protect.

Bill Hunt, for example, is a candidate for sheriff of Orange County, CA.
He is part of a growing movement of incumbents and candidates seeking
the elected office of sheriff who have seen the light. This great
awakening of sheriffs across the country has mostly been the result of
the educational efforts of former under cover narcotics officer and two
term Graham County, AZ sheriff, Richard
Mack.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview with Bill Hunt:

Question: “If you are elected sheriff and the DEA came into Orange County (OC) and asked OC Sheriff’s Department to help shut
down medical marijuana dispensaries, would you oblige them with
support?”

Bill Hunt: “No. I would prevent them, it’s unconstitutional! I’m not an advocate for legalizing marijuana but on the other hand the sheriff
is elected to enforce state laws. So, if I’m elected sheriff to this
county enforcing state law and I’m using federal law to circumvent state
law, then I’m not really being true to my office and my oath of office.
The sheriff can prevent the feds from coming in and doing that.”

I can assure you, Bill Hunt is not alone. There are sheriffs already in office, and many more running for office, who agree with him
100%. But even if you don’t live in a county with a sheriff who takes
his oath to support and defend the Constitution seriously (give him a
copy of Sheriff Mack’s book and start educating him about his oath, or
replace him with someone who is committed to keeping it), here is what
the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) has
to say about the matter that is very optimistic:

“Even within the confines of federal law, states can
enact reforms that have the practical effect of removing the fear of patients
being arrested and prosecuted under state law — as well as the symbolic
effect of pushing the federal government to allow doctors to prescribe
marijuana..Federal laws still apply to patients. While the federal
government does not have the resources to arrest, try, and incarcerate a
significant number of small-scale medical marijuana users and growers,
the federal government has raided some large-scale medical marijuana
distributors in California. However, because 99 out of 100 marijuana
arrests are made at the state or local level, state medical
marijuana laws give patients 99% protection.”

The Will Of The People And The Power Of The States

Take a step back and look at the big picture for a moment. What the MPP says about enforcement of
the federal laws criminalizing medical marijuana also applies to other
unconstitutional federal laws that states might decide to nullify. Some examples are: Obamacare, Cap and
Trade, federal regulations on firearms manufactured and kept within
state boundaries, the federal plan to ban incandescent light bulbs, or
federal regulations that might prohibit the sale and consumption of raw
milk. All of these have to actually be enforced by someone.

If the people of a state choose to ignore the federal government’s unconstitutional acts of usurpation, which it mistakenly refers to as “laws”,
and their state government stops assisting the Feds in their
enforcement efforts, the reality is that the federal government does not
have the resources or manpower to investigate, arrest, try, and
incarcerate a significant number of those people who choose to ignore
illegitimate federal edicts and instead exercise their constitutional
rights.

The truth is that when enough people within a given state begin to form a consensus that
certain federal laws forced upon them are unconstitutional and therefore
illegitimate, and a majority of their government officials at the state
and local level agree with and support them, then the idea that Thomas
Jefferson expressed so clearly in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, will be actualized:

“.. whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are
unauthoritative, void, and of no force…”

Let’s make it so.

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/06/07/arizonans-dare-to-de...