Introduction
In the matter of the Los Angeles Cannabis Not for Profit Resource Center whose been in service since 1996, the DEA raided the center who helped hundreds of patients with HIV, cancer, sickle cell anemia, and among other illnesses that are hard to treat with modern medicine. The DEA, however held a federal search warrant and declared the center a crime scene immediately upon the new ruling of the Federal Supreme court decision in May 2000 that it is illegal for large cooperatives or companies to distribute marijuana. Not only it is illegal, but that the marijuana does not hold any sort of medicine value for patients that this decision also declared.
After the DEA raid that lasted over eight hours, they “confiscated over 450-500 marijuana plants, equipment, financial documents, patient records, and all of the staff member’s information” ("Cannabisnews.Com: Cannabis Club Raided by DEA"). Although many of the patients and staff members were outraged over this new ruling which disrupted not only the daily operations of the facility, but it also left the patients in the cold and caused many of them to resort to the black markets, or the streets to continue receiving the marijuana treatments.
Since the beginning of political law, the federal laws always tended to triumph or hold more weight over the state laws. One primary reason for this is because “in the year of 1789, the United States Constitution gave the federal government the legal authority to perform such activities like collecting the citizen’s taxes, hold regulation over interstate commerce and adjudicate any type of disputes amongst all fifty states” (Judis). Over the years, many states have actually made attempts to nullify the power of the federal government but often times, the state would just have to comply with whatever it was the federal government was requesting the state to do. Therefore, the DEA was justified in raiding the Los Angeles Cannabis Not for Profit resource center of West Hollywood because their actions were compliant within the orders of the United States Supreme Court.
Federalism
The concept of federalism also comes into play within this matter of the raid as well. Federalism is the notion where two or more governments, such as the federal government and the state’s government both share powers over a particular geographic area because the United States Constitution grants powers to the State and the Federal government to do so. The States power is much more limited because it is only covering the citizens and those laws inside of that particular region.
The Constitution has sections in Article 1 that declares states are not allowed to “enter into any sort of treaties, declaring war, coining money and among other forbidden duties” (Longley). If the Los Angeles Cannabis Not for Profit Resource Center believed that their rights had been violated, and their state’s governmental power may have conflicted with the Constitution, then a motion could had been filed for the rights of the center and the state as well. The only issue with such a legal dispute is that it must be heard in the United States Supreme Court and this court in particular had originally enforced the law, in which the center could not distribute marijuana. Therefore, the battle may had been a lost cause, depending on how persistent the center wanted to be in their challenge of appealing the laws of the United States Supreme Court.
What is Marijuana and why it should be Legal?
Marijuana is one of the most controversial and debatable laws of the twentieth first century. It is a plant, also known as the Cannabis Sativa. Once the plant is consumed, it increases an individual’s appetite, and usually allows the user to dwell into a relaxed state of mind. Because of the fact that it is a psychoactive drug with its mood altering effects, the government classifieds the plant as a Schedule I Controlled Substance.
Some studies may suggest marijuana encourages negative symptoms such as addiction, dependency, social withdrawal, psychosis or schizophrenia. However, it does offer medical benefits. These benefits may offer “temporary relief for chronic pain, nausea, vomiting, sleep disturbances, anorexia, among other medical benefits” (FNP and Webberley).
Since there are so many benefits for this drug, it is for this reason alone is why it should be made legal only under the condition that an individual holds a valid prescription for it. In my opinion, since the drug is classified as a controlled substance, it would only make sense to treat it like the other painkillers like Percocet or Norco (formerly known as Vicodin) that many physicians may prescribe to patients through pain management programs.
Conclusion
Although it is unfortunate of the circumstances surrounding the center in West Hollywood, the biggest concern are the patients and their options for treatment now that the center is closed down by the DEA. Many of these patients have no choice but to resort to drug dealers on the street who may have mixed the marijuana with other harder drugs like cocaine or crack. This is totally unfair to these patients and they should be given an alternative for their loss, or some sort of compensation so that they will not make bad decisions in regards to their health.
In the future and to avoid such similar situations, companies must make certain that they stay updated with the latest policies, procedures and federal laws while distributing controlled substances. It was a bit negligent on behalf of the Los Angeles Cannabis Not for Profit Resource Center to not be made aware of the new law passed by the United States Supreme Court. In my opinion, I believe that they may had plenty of time to change how they were distributing the medicine, so that they would have been in compliance and safeguarded just in time before the Feds had closed the center down. Marijuana companies all around the world could learn a lesson from such a situation and that lesson is no matter what law has passed; this is an industry where law enforcement at all levels, whether federal, state or at the local levels are constantly watching for suspicious activity that is not in compliance with the federal law, even down to the smallest mistake.
References
"Cannabisnews.Com: Cannabis Club Raided By DEA". Cannabisnews.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
FNP, Kathleen, and Dr Webberley. "Marijuana (Cannabis): Facts, Effects And Hazards". Medical News Today. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Judis, John. "Federal Government Is More Powerful Than State Government - Nytimes.Com". Nytimes.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Longley, Robert. "About The US Government System Of Federalism And How It Works". About.com News & Issues. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
