Fox News: On Medicinal Marijuana

When I found this on Fox News: Fair and Balanced!... my jaw dropped.

You must See this for yourself. Just click on any of the above two links to read the whole article at FoxNews.com.

For Independence Day, Supreme Court Slams Founders
Saturday, July 02, 2005
By Radley Balko

In Gonzales v. Raich, the court ruled that the Constitution's clause to "make regular" interstate commerce permitted federal agents to raid the home of a sick woman and confiscate the six marijuana plants she was growing for her own medication — all in a state whose population had overwhelmingly voted to legalize medical marijuana.

(snip)

As a compromise, they included the Ninth Amendment (search), which says that the enumeration of some rights should not be construed to exclude rights not enumerated. So to answer the questions above, your rights to smoke a cigarette or consume pornography are both in the Ninth Amendment.

This is why the decision in Gonzales is so important — and so devastating. While the Supreme Court has smothered the Ninth Amendment for decades, Gonzales may serve as its obituary.

If the Ninth Amendment doesn't protect a man's right to consume whatever medicine might give him relief from pain — or that in some cases could save his life — what's left for the amendment to possibly protect?

Please, if you haven't yet, read the whole article

After reading the article I sent the author a response via email. Here it is:

Mr Balko,

I found your article, entitled "For Independence Day, Supreme Court Slams Founders" to be quite exhilarating. You hit on an important issue, and I wish more Americans would realize how our American ideals are in a state of regress. I completely agree with your analysis of Constitutional principle, but I would like to offer perhaps a little more insight into the nature of the Gonzales v. Raich case.

I am a student of cultural anthropology, and I am in no way associated with the parties of the Gonzales v. Raich. I am just a curious observer who reads a lot and spends hours a day pondering the mechanics of human society. The following letter embodies nothing more than my own subjective analysis of why Gonzales v. Raich represents a Constitutional crisis.

It is my belief that the Freedom of Thought represents the foundation of our most fundamental Constitutional freedoms. The Freedom of Thought is the very essence of the First Amendment, so much so that the Second Amendment was established to defend it. The Freedom of Thought is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our society churns with "drug" use. A liquor store grounds the corner of just about every suburban neighborhood in America. Tobacco products line the walls of convenient store registers. The Evening News is littered with prescription drug ads. So, how is it that something like cannabis is prohibited in our society, especially when it offers numerous medicinal functions?

I read once that both Jefferson and Lincoln fretted how the "money powers" would organize and threaten the very fabric of the Republic. I have no doubt that "economics" play a significant part in our ineffective and maladaptive "War on Drugs", but that's not the whole picture. One must dig deeper into humanity's past to understand why our "War on Drugs" is unConstitutional.

Drugs are illegal in our society because the cognitive effects of psychoactive substances render normal, or "mainstream", cultural ethics irrelevant. Basically, "Illegal" drugs are illegal because "mainstream" society requires a homogenious culture for survival. Culture represents everyway that humans organize society, but culture is a synthetic construct of the human mind. It should be noted that most "illegal" drugs, like cannabis, mushrooms, and peyote, existed in the diets of humans long before the organization of centralized state authority. "Drugs" are older than history, and many of our "illegal" substances function as a catalyst for cultural adaptation. Curiously, most of today's "illegal" substances were used for medicinal and "spiritual" purposes, and it was not until massive centralized state authorities invented "the rule of law" that mind-altering plants became "illegal". The Roman Catholic Church strategically wiped out the late tribal-shamanic societies of Europe by demonizing "pagans" as evil "witches" and "demons". Today, the ethnocentric American elite continue to stigmatize a human tradition that extends back to our most distant origins as humans. America's "War on Drugs" is belligently unConstitutional, and we all need to educate ourselves on this issue and induce change before we lose our American identity.

Now, I believe cannabis (including hemp) should be legalized and taxed like hell. The tax revenue would do wonders for our social infrastructure. We could even put more teachers in our classroom and provide students with financial aid for higher education and possibly even healthcare for all children under 18. It is time we enhanced our capacity to learn, if only for the future of America. However, as long as we perpetuate our "War on Drugs", America will be the ultimate fatality.

Thank you, Mr Balko, for your letter. I hope I've communicated something of value.

Sincerely,

sourmonkey