August 30, 2013
The Study of American Government
Synopsis
The Department of Justice has decided to respect the authority of states in regards to the recent laws passed in Colorado and Washington regarding the limited legalization of recreational marijuana, choosing instead "to use a 'trust but verify' policy."
Analysis
I found it very interesting that the Federal government decided to back off on this issue. The passage of those laws was very hotly debated, and now that the Department of Defense, though seemingly still very cautious about the matter, has announced their stance, I wonder if other states will follow suit.
Recently we have been talking in class about states vs. Federal rights, and this is an excellent example of how the power is split between the two. The Federal government realizes that sometimes they need to compromise and give the states the power to decided in specific situations if that balance is to be kept.
In this instance, the states started off by passing laws in direct conflict with those passed by the federal authority, and now have been given permission to live by those laws, if under strict guidelines. It will also be interesting to see how major cases involving the breaking of those laws are handled by the states themselves and if the Federal government decides to get involved, and also how new states wanting to pass similar laws will be treated.
Here is the link to the article:
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com
