June 07, 2005

Wickard v Filburn Redux

Mark Levin gets it right when he describes the now decided medical marijuana case as a throwback to the 1940s case Wickard v Filburn (1942) where a farmer was barred from growing wheat on his own land to feed his own farm animals. This was adjudicated as being sufficiently related to "interstate commerce" to be regulated by Congress (the farm did not cross state boundaries).

We've been getting away from this sort of "knee bone connected to" kind of logic that draws chains of indirect effects and alleges that the federal government can pretty much do what it pleases without limit. The 5 vote conservative federalist majority disintegrated because the subject was specifically drug policy. This irrationality when it comes to pharmaceuticals is a major reason why I still call myself a libertarian, no matter what foolishness organized libertarianism commits regarding foreign policy.

Posted by TMLutas at June 7, 2005 08:11 AM