While a barrage of state-level legislation on health freedom, firearms freedom and the like give many people the impression that Tenther ideology is somehow the exclusive purview of the political right, they often forget that state-level resistance to the 2005 Real ID act was spearheaded by the ACLU and states like Maine.
And, the classic “tenther” issue in the country today just might be state-level marijuana laws. 15 States – most recently Arizona – are actively defying congress, the DEA and a Supreme Court ruling that says marijuana is illegal…in every situation.
In 2011, sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center tell us to expect that number to rise yet again. One of the first states to consider a new bill is Illinois, with House Bill 30 (HB30), the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. The bill provides:
that when a person has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition, the person and the person’s primary caregiver may be issued a registry identification card by the Department of Public Health that permits the person or the person’s primary caregiver to legally possess no more than 6 cannabis plants and 2 ounces of dried usable cannabis.
but here’s the kicker:
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.
And guess what? They’ve got it right! The federal government is only authorized to exercise those powers delegated to it in the constitution….and nothing more. Preventing the people of Illinois from determining what they’ll use as medicine, what plant they’ll grow or consume – well, that’s not one of those delegated powers.
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CLICK HERE – to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s State marijuana legislation tracking page
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