The Superiority of a States' Rights Approach to Marijuana
The public wants it, and the Tenth Amendment demands it.
When Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo on marijuana to federal prosectors Thursday, reiterating their leeway to prosecute federal marijuana laws as they see fit, regardless of whether the plant is legal under state and local law, he likely spurred future infringements on liberty, struck a blow against federalism, and defied public opinion. But he also acted in a manner consistent with the rule of law as it has been clearly interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
To defang the prohibitionism that Sessions has a legal right to advance—and that rescinds what some saw as an overstep of executive authority by his
