PART 1 OF 3. In Gonzales v Raich (2005), SCOTUS tackled the tension between CA’s Compassionate Use Act & the US Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Plaintiffs grew marijuana for their own personal medical use. CA’s law allowed them to do so, but the CSA did not. Plaintiffs argued for a common sense approach, where the feds couldn’t regulate marijuana unless it was an economic activity: “associated with sale, exchange or barter,” which theirs was not. However, SCOTUS ruled for the feds, defining “economic” as “the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities,” thus applying Congress’ Commerce Power to everything under that large umbrella. This allowed the feds under the CSA to ban Plaintiff’s personal growing & medical use of marijuana. The wording of this case allows Congress to regulate even the fruit you grow in your own backyard. However, it’s NOT what the Constitution allows! (Art 1, Sec 8: The Congress shall have Power . . . To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.)

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