Re:FDA approves first marijuana-derived drug and it may spar...
by mikece on Tuesday June 26, 2018 @12:43PM
(#17402103)
Yes and no. The authority of the Federal Government is constrained by what the Constitution explicitly authorizes; specifically, Article 1, Section 8 -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enumerated_powers_(United_Stat... -- lists the things over which the Federal Government has original jurisdiction. The 10th Amendment goes further by stating that all powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are the domain of the States and the People.
To this topic, one hypothetical could be: the DEA conducts a raid on pot growers in Colorado and the Colorado state police arrest the feds for attempting to enforce an invalid federal law which was passed outside of the bounds of the enumerated powers. Sounds crazy, right? There's a precedent for this. During the US Civil War, Federal Marshals who had apprehended a runaway slave (pursuant to the Fugitive Slave Act) were themselves arrested by local authorities in Wisconsin for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. The principle in play sometimes goes by the name of "nullification" -- a great book on this topic can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TJAX0Q/
In practice, however, neither the States nor the Federal government have sought to have a decisive ruling on this question because it would either be the end of any semblance of State's Rights or sheer anarchy when countless laws and regulations are suddenly taken off the books -- one of which being the likely outcome from this going to the Supreme Court (not counting the more remote possibility of a new Civil War where the States might refuse to accept as impartial the ruling by a Federal Court on behalf of the Federal Government).
To this topic, one hypothetical could be: the DEA conducts a raid on pot growers in Colorado and the Colorado state police arrest the feds for attempting to enforce an invalid federal law which was passed outside of the bounds of the enumerated powers. Sounds crazy, right? There's a precedent for this. During the US Civil War, Federal Marshals who had apprehended a runaway slave (pursuant to the Fugitive Slave Act) were themselves arrested by local authorities in Wisconsin for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. The principle in play sometimes goes by the name of "nullification" -- a great book on this topic can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TJAX0Q/
In practice, however, neither the States nor the Federal government have sought to have a decisive ruling on this question because it would either be the end of any semblance of State's Rights or sheer anarchy when countless laws and regulations are suddenly taken off the books -- one of which being the likely outcome from this going to the Supreme Court (not counting the more remote possibility of a new Civil War where the States might refuse to accept as impartial the ruling by a Federal Court on behalf of the Federal Government).