The
United States of America is a union that consists of 50 vast and different
states. The State of the Union speech is the President of the United States of
America giving his observations and report on how the union of the 50 states is
functioning. (and if you are really counting you must take into consideration
Washington DC and some territories that America presides over such as Guam).
The states that contain the union, in certain situations and areas, govern
themselves; setting the tone and climate for administration of some or all of
public resources, including labour, and wealth. America is currently in the
midst of a libertarian movement that is increases in intensity as states seek
to wrest power to enforce public policy in certain areas and situation in lieu
of the federal government. The Releaf Center
The
past 3 years have seen several clashes between the different state governments
and Washington DC. The State of Arizona is currently engaged in a very heated
struggle with The Obama Administration about the enforcement of security at the
Arizona - Mexico border. Texas has also expressed its own needs and interests
in dictating policy of the security of their own Mexican border. Violence is on
the rise on the borders of these states where the vast desert acts a portal for
the smuggling of illegal drugs, illegal immigration and outright human
trafficking. Marijuana
Near Me
The
battleground of states rights vs federal government has not seen a brighter
stage than the issue of same sex marriage. The debate is personal and intense
and crosses many different areas of contention. The issue was brought to the
forefront of the American consciousness by George W. Bush as he sought to turn
the tide of the 2004 United States presidential election against the Democratic
party nominee John Kerry. Bush stated that marriage should be defined as the
union of a man and a woman and that same sex marriages should not be recognized
in The United States. The ensuing years have seen some states legalize same sex
marriage, many others vote their states same sex marriage down and countless
debates and court cases going back and forth in this battlefield in the war for
political power between the states and Washington DC. Recreational
Marijuana Near Me
The
next potential area for conflict in this never ending union dance with federal
government will be legal marijuana in America. The growing consensus is that it
is just a matter of time before one of the states in the union, with the smart
money betting on California, Colorado or Michigan, will end their prohibition
of marijuana and legalize its recreational possession and use. Medical
Marijuana is already out of the closet and never to return. City and state
governments that have legalized medical marijuana are already profiting and
allocating funds received in the taxes generated and this revenue is not going
to be eliminated now that the states have had a taste of this new budget
windfall. Best Marijuana Dispensary
California
attempted to legalize recreational use in November 2010 with Proposition 19.
Voted down by a 54-46% margin in a midterm election, the pieces were not
completely in place for victory. The issue will come back with a vengeance in
2012 and early observations are that the new proposition will be written with a
more inclusive attitude toward the state's legal marijuana culture and include
the concerns of growers, defence lawyers and dispensaries. The 2012 election
will be a presidential election and thus will include a bigger turnout of the
younger voters of the population, the very core of the populace that most
voting registration drives aim at and coincidentally which happen to be a huge
block of the yes to recreational marijuana base. Cannabis
Marijuana Delivery
The
federal government seems to be in a quandary if one of these states actually
does break away from the Just Say No federal stance on all recreational drugs
except tobacco and alcohol. The push came to shove last October when it looked
like Proposition 19 had a chance to pass in California, forcing Obama
Administration Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske to issue the following statement on
recreational legal marijuana:
"Legalization
is being sold as being a cure to ending violence in Mexico, as a cure to state
budget problems, as a cure to health problems. The American public should be
skeptical of anyone selling one solution as a cure for every single problem.
Legalized, regulated drugs are not a panacea--pharmaceutical drugs in this
country are tightly regulated and government controlled, yet we know they cause
untold damage to those who abuse them.
To
test the idea of legalizing and taxing marijuana, we only need to look at
already legal drugs--alcohol and tobacco. We know that the taxes collected on
these substances pale in comparison to the social and health care costs related
to their widespread use."
Clearly
the federal government is not on board with legal marijuana in California
sponsoring the Super Bowl Half Time Show in 2020. How does a state's citizens
respond to this statement when their population votes on an initiative that
could help their economy to recover from the most serious economic crisis in
their state's history? Does the federal government have a right to tell a
private citizen that even though they have voted on a principle in majority that
they still do not have the freedom to exercise this right as afforded to them
through popular vote?
Thomas
Jefferson, was quoted as saying "The government which governs least,
governs best". The Jefferson authored Declaration of Independence, the
very document that the federal government is founded on, declares that we all
have "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness." The federal government will seek to deny
citizens rights they have afforded to themselves through their state's popular
vote, clinging to aging and archaic rhetoric. The stance and posturing does not
govern least and it certainly does not govern best; denying their citizens the
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that is professes its very existence
for.
