the exercise of power and Federalism

Does the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution give the federal government the authority to outlaw marijuana? If not, why not?

The federal government does not have the authority to outlaw marijuana use in accordance with the Commerce Clause. Many people believe that states should be responsible for marijuana prohibition rather than the federal government (Mikos, 2012). The United States of America’s president intensified the fight against drugs and crime in the 1970s. He gave the Congress the order to enact laws like the Controlled Substances Act, which gave the States the power to enforce their own marijuana prohibitions. The constitution was repealed to allow the state government to adopt rules that controlled the use of marijuana in their states. This allowed the states to permit or ban the use of marijuana and the conditions under which the drug can be used in the state. The states should take the lead in ensuring that the way their citizens use the substances. The federal ban on marijuana has been ignored by several states who have passed their regulations on the use of the substances.

What are some of the political issues that surround this case?

There has been a substantial support for the legalization of marijuana throughout the states and the federal governments. However, there are political issues that have been surrounding the legalization and ban of marijuana. For instance, 49 percent of the Democrats support the legalization of the substance, 28 percent do not support it. For the Republicans 32 percent support the legalization of marijuana while 50 percent support its ban (“Political Issue: Marijuana | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University,” 2017). Most of the youth are not sure whether to support the legalization or the ban of the substance. About 49 percent of the whites in the United States of America support the legalization of marijuana. 32 percent of white support the prohibition of the drug. 38 percent of African Americans have shown their support for the legalization of the drug while 37 percent are for the banning of the drug.

References

Political Issue: Marijuana | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University. (2017). Iop.harvard.edu. Retrieved 16 November 2017, from http://iop.harvard.edu/survey/details/political-issue-marijuana

Mikos, R. (2012). On the Limits of Federal Supremacy: When States Relax (or Abandon) Marijuana Bans. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2225945