The State HATES Freedom, Even When It Pretends Otherwise

Legalization of pot is good, right? The governments of those states liberalizing their anti-drug laws are at least granting their serfs a bit more liberty.

But are they really? Consider this letter from “governors of the four states that were first to legalize recreational marijuana —  [John] Hickenlooper in Colorado, Jay Inslee in Washington, Kate Brown in Oregon and Bill Walker in Alaska” to “Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging them to respect the rights of the states to pass such measures…”

And why are these rulers suddenly so keen on “states rights”? Because they wish “to [maintain] control over marijuana in our states.” Indeed, it’s all about control and which set of officials will exercise it, as they make clear later in the same paragraph: the existing framework, they say, “strike[s] a reasonable balance between allowing the states to enact reasonable regulations and the federal government’s interest** in controlling some of the collateral consequences of legalization.” [Emphasis added.]

If we wish to regain our liberty, why waste our time on “legalization”? It leaves politicians and bureaucrats firmly empowered over our bodies (and our wallets, since taxation is integral to legalization). Rather, we must prohibit these despicable leeches from dictating what we may or may not ingest.

**By the way, any time rulers mention the government’s “interest” in something, it’s an admission that the Constitution never so empowers them. “Interests” are legal fictions that courts or sometimes politicians or bureaucrats dream up out of whole cloth to grab authority. For example, in the late 19th century, the Supreme Court invented an “interest” for the Feds in controlling immigration; no Constitutional mandate allows them to do so. Likewise, the Court decreed in the 20th century that the Feds have an “interest” in “safe” aviation—and that resulted in the anti-Constitutional, Fourth-Amendment-destroying TSA.

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11:09 am on July 21, 2017