PART 2 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 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, applying a broader definition of “economic.” But what’s worse is that SCOTUS held “Congress has the power to regulate PURELY LOCAL ACTIVITIES” when doing so is necessary to implement a comprehensive national regulatory program. 🤯NOWHERE in the Constitution does it allow Congress to enact general national regulatory programs! Congress was given specific powers. Regulating PURELY LOCAL COMMERCE is NOT one of them! (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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