Last week, Illinois saw the introduction of House Bill 30 – an attempt to legalize the use of marijuana for certain medicinal purposes. If passed, Illinois would join 15 other states – most recently, Arizona – who are actively defying federal law in regards to marijuana.

Defiance just might be the best word for it, too. Laws on the books in Congress hold marijuana to be illegal under all circumstances. And, more importantly, a 2005 Supreme Court ruling gave the opinion that all state marijuana programs were illegal as well.

At the time that ruling came down (Gonzales v Raich), there were 10 states with active medical marijuana programs. How many of those states took the Supreme Court’s advice and shut down their programs? Count ’em. Zero. And 5 additional states have added on since then.

But, I digress.

Most interesting about the Illinois bill is that it’s one that’s taking a new direction with medical marijuana – specifically citing the 10th Amendment as authorizing the state to enact the law. From the text of the bill:

The people of the State of Illinois declare that they enact this Act pursuant to the police power to protect the health of its citizens that is reserved to the State of Illinois and its people under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Calling upon the 10th in such a way is consistent with the Founders’ Constitution, which codified in law that we the people of the several states created the federal government to be our agent for certain, enumerated purposes, and nothing more.

Also, lest we forget, the state-level revolt against the 2005 Real ID act was spearheaded by the ACLU, and kicked off by states like Maine – hardly any bastion of red-state love if you ask me!

Most recently from the left? Some advocates for gay marriage are saying that federal definitions of marriage are a violation of state sovereignty. In fact, last July, Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley argued that the Defense of Marriage Act was a violation of the 10th Amendment. And, she won.

Last Friday, the DOJ issued a brief in appeals court to challenge that decision. So, don’t let anyone ever convince you that the current administration is in favor of gay marriage if they’re going to court to block a ruling striking down DOMA!

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office argued, in its district court brief, that DOMA is not showing respect for the sovereignty of Massachusetts.

“Instead, Congress chose to force Massachusetts (and other States) to violate the equal protection rights of its citizens or risk federal funding,” argued Massachusetts’ brief. “ That is not neutrality; rather, it significantly burdens the ability of States to adopt any definition of marriage that does not match the federal one….”

It’s an interesting and powerful argument. Whether right or wrong, at least the attempt is being made to look to the 10th Amendment, what Jefferson called the “foundation” of the entire constitution.

But, of course, not everyone from the left is in favor of such a view. For example, this blog – which takes the mainstream view that congressional spending and social programs are more important than rights.

“We should be more worried about restrictions on Congress’s power to spend money to pass social legislation than restrictions on Congress’s power to discriminate.”

Surprised? I’m not. You’d think that some people would simply cheer a ruling that affirms a viewpoint they claim to have. Unfortunately, though, there’s many who prefer central power over anything else – and everything else must be sacrificed.

Either way, it’s clear to me that there are some on the left who are starting to get it – that the most difficult and most divisive issues should be dealt with close to home in our states.

Michael Boldin

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