"Drug Wars" by federal government is unconstitutional

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arlier this month, President Joe Biden pardoned over 6,500 individuals convicted of simple marijuana possession, saying,

 “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana.”

 He also said that the current system makes no sense. Not only does it make no sense, but from a Constitutional perspective, there should be no federal marijuana prohibition at all. 

Accordingly, this is something he should have done on his very first day in office if the architect of the Senate’s version of the 1994 Crime Bill truly believes the convictions were unjust. What is more likely is the delay was timed to pander to his diminishing base of support just before the mid-term elections.

 In June of 2018, Donald Trump commuted the sentence of 63 year old Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence related to marijuana trafficking; while his action was correct, she was the only individual who received this treatment, which made headlines. Trump was clearly pandering to members of the African American community.

Biden also stated that no one should be incarcerated in state prisons for the same offense, but that matter was never delegated to the general government, and pursuant to the Tenth Amendment, remained with the states. 

Many conservatives are unhappy with this recent action and supported Senator Ted Cruz when he criticized then President Obama for failing to enforce federal marijuana laws – laws which have no constitutional authority. When law and order conservatives insist on enforcement of regulations not supported in Constitutional authority, they unwittingly cede power to the federal government simply because they support the policy outcome. Doing so acknowledges that the people of the states are incapable of self-governance.

 Personal feelings on this topic run the gamut of outright prohibition to legalization for recreational use; regardless of your personal stance, the morality of its use should be taught in the home, and regulation needs to be decentralized going back to the states to decide.