On Wednesday, April 17, 2013, the White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, announced his recognition of the nullification movement. “No state, no executive can nullify a statute that has been passed by Congress,” he said.  As reported by RawStory – and many other sources – Kerlikowske made this statement at the beginning of his speech to the National Press Club in an effort to say that federal laws on marijuana will prevail regardless of state-level efforts to legalize.

But, Facts on the ground show that the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is living some kind of lala land.   Gil, I’ve got news for you.  They states already ARE nullifying.

Fact:  18 states have already legalized marijuana, 16 for medical purposes only with Washington State and Colorado going the next step, full legalization.

Fact: Gil wouldn’t be wasting his time talking about how “states can’t” do this if it wasn’t having an effect.

Fact: Without state and local law enforcement cooperation, the feds are fighting a losing battle.

It’s not a matter of IF the states will fully and completely nullify the unconstitutional federal prohibition on marijuana.  It’s only a matter of when.

And to back it up even further, alcohol prohibition came crumbling down by a similar process.  By 1928, 28 states had stopped funding for alcohol prohibition enforcement and local police were sporadic in their enforcement efforts. In a 1925 address to Congress, Maryland’s Senator Bruce stated“national prohibition went into legal effect upward of six years ago, but it can be truly said that, except to a highly qualified extent, it has never gone into practical effect at all.” 

“Let’s be clear: law enforcement officers take an oath of office to uphold federal law and they are going to continue to pursue drug traffickers and drug dealers,” Gil said.  But Gil, you know as well as I do – law enforcement officials take an oath to the Constitution, not “federal law.”

The American people – in a growing majority – support state nullification of federal marijuana “laws.”  According to Pew Research earlier this month, “60% say that the federal government should not enforce federal laws prohibiting the use of marijuana in states where it is legal.”

Those people aren’t saying that states should be able to legalize if the feds change their laws.  Nope.  It’s the other way around.  They believe that states should be able to make a decision on marijuana no matter what federal laws happen to exist.

We’re watching the biggest nullification effort in the history of the United States.  Gil knows it.  And he know he’s going to lose.

Michael Boldin

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