Prohibition

[rusty_rebar]

Back in 1920 we needed the 18th amendment to accomplish prohibition. How is it that "drugs" are illegal? I mean I don't see anything in the Constitution that permits government from banning substances of any type.

[TxRider]

1. Study history

It's illegal because congress continuously has expanded government powers through the commerce clause.

Before FDR the supreme court decided what was interstate commerce, and drastically limited congress ability to regulate and tax act of commerce, limiting it to pretty strictly interstate commerce, commerce between the states.

FDR came in and shook things up, he made a very strong effort to double the number of justices on the supreme court to stack the supreme court in order to force through his agenda. Part of the fallout was that the supreme court handed over the authority to decide what was interstate commerce to congress and congress authority and limits of it's power forever greatly expanded.

Congress then used that authority to tax interstate commerce to regulate or prohibit all manner of things, from tommy guns, to pot (The Marijuama Tax act of 1937), and recently they cite this authority gives them power to force you to buy insurance.

Later the pot prohibition was found unconstitutional, in Nixons time, because the law required you to break the law in order to pay the tax, and was made illegal again under the controlled substances act.

Still congress has basically maintained the commerce clause gives congress unbridled ability to regulate anything and everything a person can do expanding ever more into anything that remotely and even indirectly affects a purchase or act of commerce.

Look back to 1934 to 1938 American History, your answer is there. And it's a timely study as we go into some similar times as well as similar constitutional issues today.

Before 1930 and the depression they indeed needed a constitutional amendment to prohibit pot, or anything else.

Strangely enough, the first regulation done in the way, and direct precedent for drug prohibition was the national firearms act of 1934. Alcohol prohibition caused so much crime with smuggling, gangs and organized crime, they passed the act to prohibit automatic weapons to try to reduce the violence. When it was found to be constitutional after challenge, they passed the Marijuana tax act under the same authority to tax commerce.

It has now grown to the point that in defense in the courtroom of the new health care legislation, congress is asserting that they have authority to tax your act of doing nothing (not buying insurance), taxing your decision not to engage in commerce and in effect prohibiting not buying a product from a private company.

This could be a landmark supreme court question later this year.