Something to add to the material on federalism:
The NYT reports on the Obama Administration's continuing struggles with how to respond to the Colorado and Washington marijuana initiatives. This isn't the first conflict between state and federal governments over marijuana - and whether states can circumvent the Controlled Substances Act. We cover Gonzalez v. Raich in our section on federalism. The federal government won that round, but state are not backing down.
This story points out a new wrinkle in the conflict. Voter for marijuana initiatives were Obama supporters. Does he risk alienating them?
Public opinion has swung behind supporting legalization in recent years. 58% support legalization according to this story - support is stronger among the young than the old.
To fit this story in the broader framework of drug policy click on these:
- Marijuana Policy Project.
- Marijuana Policy: Stop the Drug War.
- Drug Policy: Wikipedia.