political science

I believe that the Federal government has the right to preempt the state medical or recreational marijuana laws based on the Supremacy Clause of the American Constitution. The clause postulates that the Federal legislation and the Constitution form part of the supreme laws of the land. However, according to federalism, both the Federal government and the states have equal rights. Under federalism, it would be difficult for the Federal government to interfere with the marijuana laws of the states. Even though the Constitution has given “police powers” to the States, I think this should not guarantee freedom for the states to make and enforce their personal recreational marijuana laws. According to the Constitution, the Federal laws still illegalize marijuana use. Therefore, the States should harmonize their legislation to mirror the ones for the Federal government. The freedom needs to be curtailed because the Supremacy Clause puts the Federal statutes above the state laws.

            I feel that the legalization of marijuana in the United States has not been done in the right manner. The four states which have legalized marijuana might not get enough support because they might face resistance from the Federal laws. For instance, the Federal courts in the states might convict the users of marijuana while the state courts do not see any need to do so because marijuana is legal for recreational purposes. I believe in uniformity in legalizing marijuana to encourage consistency. Therefore, the United States still has a long way to harmonizing their laws.