How can the state itself not be prosecuted over medical marijuana laws when federal law supercedes state law?
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Yes I think a glaring conflict like that should bring some sort of action on behalf of the federal government.
Federal law does not automatically preempt State law. The Tenth Amendment reads:
“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.”
Laws in which the federal government is interfering in matters which are inherently the business of States are commonly voided by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. Our system of government is set up so as to inherently respect the authority of the state, except in cases which are given to the federal government by the constitution. So long as marijuana trafficking does not take place over state lines, the argument can be made that it is not necessarily under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Because the state isn’t smoking marijuana, that’s why.
lol
Actually, it’s because the federal government has no authority to tell state governments what to do or not do. They can pass laws, but if the states don’t want to enforce them, that is their choice.
It is a precarious technicality I do not think will ever be seriously challenged in the courts.
The States have sovereign immunity and can’t be sued. The Federal Government lacks the power to force states to waive this.
The Federal Government is actually somewhat weak. It can’t directly control the states, but through the interstate commerce clause it can flex it’s muscles.
For example, California can legalize weed, and the fed can withdrawal all funding to social programs, or transportation maintenance. Without that money, already broke California can’t go on, so it changes the law.
This happened with the Highways. States used to be able to set their own speed limits, then the government said if you want this money, the max speed limit is 65. Interstate highways are to expensive to maintain without federal help.