Governor Richardson could easily have passed up the request to put the issue of medical [read that “smoked”] marijuana before the legislature. After all, the federal government, which is slowly but surely taking over the police power from the states, claims the right to prohibit people from smoking marijuana. The feds claim the right to deny smoked marijuana to people with terminal illnesses, people with intractable pain. They do not arrest the patient; they threaten the license of the doctor. Have you heard any of our congress people discuss this?
The Governor came forward and laid the problem on the table. New Mexico may be spinning its wheels, but the principle is there. No longer will we roll over and say to the DEA, tell us how to practice medicine. If our legislature passes the bill, it may amount to no more than a resolution, and that is all right. We will say to the federal powers that this is a State matter, and get out of the sickroom and restrict your governance to matters that are appropriately federal (national and constitutional).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment