BTW, this topic was extensively discussed
here and
here.
orangello said:
I wonder, does it make any difference if the people get their pot directly from the federal government? Not like this would be the only example of the feds violating their own laws or anything.
http://news.yahoo.com/4-americans-pot-us-government-070245907.html
Only four patients still qualify for the program.
Those four people are the only ones left in a long closed formal clinical trial. And they are now the only lawful users of marijuana.
Federal law allows for limited, lawful prescribing of drugs that can't otherwise be lawfully prescribed. It must be done under a formal research protocol and subject to oversight by an Institutional Review Board, as part of the clinical trial and investigation of new and novel drugs and therapies.
That what was done with marijuana in this case, and it's done all the time with other drugs. Are you suggesting that the government doesn't have a sufficient interest in the testing of new drugs to provide for a legal means for such drugs, which could not otherwise be lawfully distributed, to be used for investigational purposes?
Chaz88 said:
...So in your universe when the opinions of the courts compleatly trump the second amendment to the constitution that will be OK because that is what will be happening in practice in the real world?
Is it OK that much of what the fourth amendment originally encompassed has been slowly eroded but most do not even know it because it started many years ago and slowly became the norm for what now happens, in practice, in the real world?
First, understand that your opinion about these things is just your opinion. Everyone might not agree with you about what is right and what is wrong. If there's a disagreement about the way a law should be applied, the matter is resolved in court. That's what courts are for and what they do.
Second, it is a fact that in the real world your conduct will subject to the laws as applied by courts. You may think they are wrong, and you may object; but at the end of the day you will bump up against reality.
Third, if you don't like the way things are, our system includes means of changing things. Legislatures can change the law, and court decisions can be challenged. But there's no guarantee that your view of the way the world ought to be will hold sway.
Fourth, if you think you will want to change things, you will first need to clearly understand the way things are, how and why they got to be that way, the mechanisms available to try to make changes and how to effectively use those mechanisms. You need to understand the real world.
Don P said:
Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana, or any depressant, stimulant, or narcotic drug, or any other controlled
substance?
And if you have a script for the weed then the answer to the above quote is NO...
But that would be the wrong answer, unless you are one for the last four lawful users under the now closed clinical trial. Under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is a Schedule I drug and may not, under federal law, be lawfully prescribed, so no one, except one of those four people can be a lawful user under federal law.