Gary Johnson, Weed, and the Constitution

By Mason Chandler

On Sunday, the Libertarian Party nominated the former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson as their alternative to Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.  Governor Johnson has been a longtime advocate of legalizing marijuana, and has also said that he would issue pardons to non-violent marijuana offenders via executive order.

Smoking a marijuana joint (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

What does the Constitution say about the controversial issue of marijuana?

The regulation of substances, including marijuana, is not a power belonging to the federal government. The Tenth Amendment leaves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.  The federal government has no constitutional power to either ban or strike down state bans on marijuana.  The decision of whether or not to ban the use of marijuana belongs to the states.

Now that we can see the regulation of marijuana — or lack thereof — is an explicit duty of the states, I now want to look at the issue from a logical stance.  Please note I am talking about recreational marijuana from a logical position, not medical marijuana.  Based on scientific evidence, it is absolutely insane to allow people to use marijuana.  Besides causing addiction, studies find that people who use cannabis are more likely to get in motor vehicle accidents than those who do not use the drug.  On top of that, it is possible that cannabis causes brain damage, and more than fifty known carcinogens have been identified in cannabis smoke.

Marijuana is a very dangerous thing, and I suggest that every state ban it and give massive fines to those who smoke it against the law.  You might be thinking it is rather foolish of me to suggest that marijuana be left to the states.  After all, the federal government still has marijuana on the Controlled Substance Act, while some states have legalized it.  But the federal government defended marriage before it abandoned it, and it protected unborn children before it gave funds to butcher them.  History has shown that our liberties and safety are better left in the hands of the states.

Learn more about your Constitution with Mason Chandler and the “Institute on the Constitution” and receive your free gift.

Mason Chandler is a 14 year old who is associated with the Institute on the Constitution.

ADVERTISEMENT

This article is printed with the permission of the author(s). Opinions expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of American Clarion or Dakota Voice LLC.

Comment Rules: Please confine comments to salient ones that add to the topic; Profanity is not allowed and will be deleted; Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will be deleted.

Similar Posts:

• Fossil Fuels and the Constitution: Feelin’ the BERN‬‬
• The Constitution Authorizes No Government Charity
• Climate Change: What Should Government Do?
• Obama is Not a King but Lindsey Graham is a Court Jester‬
• Don’t Collect Phone Records, Secure Our Border!‬‬

Guest authors at American Clarion hail from a variety of sources and backgrounds. Their work is featured because we believe they have something important to say that our readers will appreciate. If you’d like to see a guest author become a regular here, please let us know!

Guest Author

View all articles by Guest Author