Second, that the legalization of pot does not cause crime to increase; in fact it is the exact opposite, that legalizing it reduces crime and stops funding terrorists and criminals. Third, that in light of the present pitiful state of the CNMI economy, legalizing this harmless herb would put billions, yes, billions of dollars into our near-empty treasury over time, some of it pretty darned soon. The income will far outweigh the paltry losses from federal funds.
In today’s installment we’ll look briefly at the Constitutional issue. Tomorrow and the next day we will examine the second and third issues.
The constitutional component was described pretty well by libertarian David Boaz when he said, “Where in the Constitution does the federal government find the power to ban or regulate drugs? In 1920, people understood this; when they wanted to ban alcohol, they passed a constitutional amendment. You can’t say much good about the prohibitionists, but at least they had enough respect for the Constitution to go through the formal amendment process.
“But we have never passed a constitutional amendment granting the federal government any power to ban marijuana, or cocaine or other drugs. The federal government’s contemporary prohibition policy is an illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of a power never granted to it.
“People have rights that governments may not violate. Thomas Jefferson defined them as the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When I’m asked what libertarianism is, I often say that it is the idea that adult individuals have the right and the responsibility to make the important decisions about their own lives. More categorically, I would say that people have the right to live their lives in any way they choose so long as they don’t violate the equal rights of others. What right could be more basic, more inherent in human nature, than the right to choose what substances to put in one’s own body? Whether we’re talking about alcohol, tobacco, herbal cures, saturated fat, or marijuana, this is a decision that should be made by the individual, not the government.
If government can tell us what we can put into our own bodies, what can it not tell us? What limits on government action are there?
“Sadly, the answer to that is not many limits any more, when people become sheep, too scared or too blasé to stand up for their own individual rights any more the end is near. That’s when totalitarian rule sneaks up and takes over a country. Rule by bureaucrats instead of the rule of law. Rule by politicians looking for a way to pad the pockets of their friends and constituents. Rule by a secret police, already growing strong in the United States.
Rule by fear and intimidation and laws that expand to restrict rather than enrich our personal freedoms. It becomes a self-replicating bureaucracy that feeds on itself and on the very citizens it should be protecting.
“The 9th and 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution state very clearly that any powers not granted specifically to the federal government are reserved to the States and to the People. The prohibition of drugs and herbs is NOT granted specifically to the federal government. Here is what those two very important Amendments say:
“Amendment 9
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
“Amendment 10
“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.”
Around here the very people who decry what they see as a usurpation of power by the current administration are also the first to try and usurp the power of the Constitution themselves to deny you the right to smoke if you wish or use your property as you wish or deny a businessman the right to use his business as he sees fit. The list goes on and becomes longer every day. Soon it will be what food you are allowed to eat. Sorry, no beef keleguin, it’s just not politically correct.
The U.S. government grows even larger and controls more and more of your life every day. If you don’t help stop them now, who will and when? If the law is wrong, we can change it. This one needs changing. We can and should change this one right here locally. We can’t control what they do in Idaho or California, but luckily we can control what happens here in the CNMI. Does the current prohibition laws protect your children from exposure to pot or cigarettes or anything else? No, you parents do the protecting, same as you would if the unconstitutional prohibition on pot was lifted and the herb became legal to use again.
To be continued tomorrow
REP. STANLEY MCGINNIS
TORRES
17th CNMI Legislature
