![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Raich v. Ashcroft
There is a "meta-blog" discussion going on over at SCOTUSblog about today's medical marijuana decision.
My take? The Court's decision was entirely predictable. As much as one would want to think otherwise, marijuana is -- or has the capacity to be, even if home gown -- a subject of interstate commerce. The Court many years ago established the government's capacity to regulate agricultural activity even when used by the producer. And I think the medicinal/recreational use issue is of concern: if the government cannot regulate medicinal marijuana then they arguably cannot regulate recreational use. And the whole issue rests on the capacity of the government to regulate: unlike other cases such as pornography cases where there is an affirmative right such as speech at stake, there is no right to a given course of medical treatment.
Note: In saying that I think the Court reached the right decision, I am not making any representations as to whether I think the federal regulation of marijuana is a *good* thing, merely that it is supportable under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
My take? The Court's decision was entirely predictable. As much as one would want to think otherwise, marijuana is -- or has the capacity to be, even if home gown -- a subject of interstate commerce. The Court many years ago established the government's capacity to regulate agricultural activity even when used by the producer. And I think the medicinal/recreational use issue is of concern: if the government cannot regulate medicinal marijuana then they arguably cannot regulate recreational use. And the whole issue rests on the capacity of the government to regulate: unlike other cases such as pornography cases where there is an affirmative right such as speech at stake, there is no right to a given course of medical treatment.
Note: In saying that I think the Court reached the right decision, I am not making any representations as to whether I think the federal regulation of marijuana is a *good* thing, merely that it is supportable under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
no subject
no subject