The 10th Amendment means cannabis policy is the prerogative of the states. Jeff Sessions should read the Constitution he has sworn to uphold.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by theConstitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
And despite the common establishment response, the Supremacy Clause is no excuse.
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof... shall be the supreme Law of the Land...”
The key words in the Supremacy Clause are: “in Pursuance thereof.” Essentially, only the laws made in pursuance of the Constitution are the Supreme Law of the Land.
But unfortunately, there are many laws passed by the Congress not in pursuance of the Constitution. For those laws, the Tenth Amendment applies instead of the Supremacy Clause. Congress can pass these laws all they want, but when state and federal laws disagree, the Tenth Amendment means state law takes precedent.
So then the argument is, “How do we know what is a constitutional power and what isn’t?” This Question is exactly why the founders wrote Article I, Section 8 in the Constitution, which specifically lists delegated powers.
Nothing in Constitution grants the authority for Washington DC to prohibit a plant.
The powers of the federal government are enumerated and limited by the Constitution, but the rights of the people are innumerable. The Ninth Amendment makes it clear that the Bill of Rights is not a comprehensive list, but just a few examples:
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
When the Attorney General makes plans to jail Americans for participating in their state’s legal cannabis program, he is violiating the limits of federal power and shredding the Constitution.