 renee paape  daughter of randy alicia paape bath high school graduate gpa salutatorian organizations extra curricular national honor society renaissance member basketball soccer bath ayso u8 u10 coach bath youth basketball camps class vice president community service work  renee paape essay    the tenth amendment and medicinal marijuana  since the founding of the united states and the creation of our government the people of america knew that a federal government needed to be limited the tenth amendment is an important ldquo check rdquo to keep the powers of the federal government from growing too strong it confirms that any power not delegated to the united states federal government is given to the states and or the people yet lately there has been confusion and anger regarding the tenth amendment the federal government has throughout history continuously reached its hand in state affairs causing much debate and conflict between state and federal governments one such affair is the issue on medicinal marijuana laws and its confliction with federal laws stating marijuana as an illegal substance and a schedule i drug the direct conflict comes from the federal controlled substances act and the twenty states and the district of columbia 2 that goes against the csa rsquo s regulation of banned substances according to the csa the federal government ldquo does not recognize the difference between medical and recreational use of marijuana rdquo 1 it is a schedule i substance that is highly addictive and has no real medical value this conflicts with many state laws including michigan rsquo s own law stating that ldquo allows medical marijuana use by patients who have been diagnosed by physician as having debilitating medical condition rdquo 3 thus the controversial issue of the limits of the federal government versus the rights of the state government arises the state government has every right to decide their own policies concerning the use of medical marijuana all states have the right to ldquo to exercise a police power for the benefits of their particular residents rdquo 4 and the federal government and the dea the drug enforcement administration that polices federal drug laws are unjust in encroaching on these basic state rights nowhere in the delegated federal powers presented in the constitution give the federal government any right to govern over this matter federally the federal government protects their right to govern over the issue by claiming that the distribution of medicinal marijuana falls under their right to regulate commerce this defense was held up by the supreme court in the case gonzales v raich where the court stated that ldquo the commerce clause gave congress authority to prohibit the local cultivation and use of marijuana despite state law to the contrary rdquo 5 this court case shows the gross stretching of the federal government rsquo s delegated clauses and shows the tenth amendment being stripped of its power to protect state rights another issue that arises with medicinal marijuana is the confusion over the enforcement of the federal law versus the state law even though the dea at the present time has the unjust right to arrest people for the use of medical marijuana it has been stated that ldquo ideally the dea will leave medical marijuana patients and their caregivers alone rdquo 1 the obama administration has also been noted in encouraging federal prosecutors to not prosecute ldquo people who distribute marijuana for medical purposes in accordance to state law rdquo 6 this new loosening of enforcement has also heightened the peoples rsquo confusion over the topic of medicinal marijuana why should the federal government still stand by the controlled substance act rsquo s clause about marijuana if they choose not to even enforce it to its full capacity the federal government is clearly encroaching on the state rsquo s delegated power by stripping them of their tenth amendment right and stretching their own delegated powers to the issue of medicinal marijuana and many other controversial issues involving state verse federal government powers the federal government should step back and allow the state rsquo s their right to create their own policies concerning the issue rsquo s matter and not overstep the boundaries given to them in the constitution emsp works cited 1 federal marijuana law americans for safe access americans for safe access web 4 apr 2014 http wwwsafeaccessnoworg federalmarijuanalaw 2 where is marijuana legal usa today np web 4 apr 2014 http wwwusatodaycom story news nationnow 20140106 marijuanalegalstatesmedicalrecreational 4343199 3 medicalconditions mmma the michigan medical marijuana association web 4 apr 2014 http michiganmedicalmarijuanaorg page articles health conditions 4 state marijuana laws ncsl national conference of state legislatures web 4 apr 2014 http wwwncslorg research health statemedicalmarijuanalawsasp xgt 5 gonzales v raich oyez oyez inc web 4 apr 2014 state marijuana laws ncsl national conference of state legislatures web 4 apr 2014 6 daunt lesely state vs federal law who really holds the trump card the huffington post thehuffingtonpostcom inc 28 01 2014 web 4 apr 2014 medicalconditions mmma the michigan medical marijuana association web 4 apr 2014  