States’ Rights in a Time of Judicial Overreach

The Roe decision seriously sucks, but has everyone forgotten about the War on Drugs?

I’ve been a criminal for over half my life. Day in and day out, 24–7. It’s a wonder I’m not rotting away in some federal penitentiary like so many countless millions of my fellow citizens. And my crime?

I smoke two joints in the morning. I smoke two joints at night. I smoke two joints in the afternoon. It makes me feel alright. I smoke two joints in time of peace, and two in time of war. I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints, and then I smoke two more. — Sublime

Or for the less musically inclined among you:

And furthermore, Susan, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn that all four of them habitually smoke marihuana cigarettes. — “Reefer Madness”

But my life as a continual criminal all came to an end one glorious day back in 2012 when my state became the first in the nation to fully legalize cannabis for all adults over 21 years of age. (We beat Colorado to the finish line by three hours.) The effect this had on my life was immeasurable, for it single-handedly transformed me into a law-abiding citizen without any change of behavior on my part. Hurray for democracy!

The twisted irony of this glorious freedom, however, is that cannabis is still completely illegal as far as the United States government is concerned. That’s to say, it remains a Schedule 1 illegal controlled substance at the federal level, meaning (in their glaucoma-blinded eyes at least) that it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Despite it being completely natural and widely used by cultures across the globe for millennia, they lump it in with heroin, acid, ecstasy, and other “hard drugs” — even more so than they do cocaine or methamphetamine. So much for being the Land of the Free.

What does this have to do with the overturning of Roe v. Wade? Everything.

As horrific as the Supreme Court’s recent decision is to a sizeable majority of Americans (I among them), it’s important to keep it in perspective. It’s important to look at its actual effect; for the court didn’t just impose some new nationwide ban on abortions. That would be truly horrific. But that’s not what happened. On the contrary, the court simply ruled that it’s a matter for the states to decide.

I realize that for all the women living in deep red states, that’s of little consolation. For everyone now living under the tyranny of “trigger laws” that have suddenly gone into effect, making abortion outright illegal (in many cases, with no common sense or compassionate exceptions for rape, incest, or to preserve the life of the mother), this represents a turning back of the clock by a hundred years. This represents a monumental turn for the worst, a step straight back into the Dark Ages.

But is this situation all that different from that of pot smokers in these same deep red states? I’m not in any way trying to set up some kind of comparative scale of suffering. I’m not trying to imply that a lifetime of caring for an unwanted child (or risking a back-alley abortion to avoid it) is on par with being sent to prison for a few years for getting caught with a few grams of dirt weed. Both of these are terrible in their own way. Neither is okay.

What I’m saying though, is that if you find either situation unacceptable, you’re logically left with one of four choices. You can:

1. Abide by the law. Become abstinent and straight-edge. (I threw up a little in my mouth just typing that.)
2. Become a criminal. Continue to live your life as you choose and take special precautions or contingency plans to travel to another state for an abortion if necessary or stock up on Plan B pills, and try not to get caught with pot.
3. Move states. Join the millions of refugees worldwide who flee oppression for the freedom and opportunity of places that value liberty.
4. Remain where you are and dedicate your life to getting the law changed like the myriad legalization activists who have risked their careers, their reputations, and their freedom fighting for the past fifty years to get marijuana decriminalized (a battle which is still far from being won).

I realize all of these choices require sacrifice. I realize all of them really suck and, in a remotely just world, would be completely unnecessary. Yet here we are.

The Founding Fathers of America, for all their various flaws, did a pretty remarkable job in creating a system of government where the will of the majority is respected while still protecting the rights of the minority. They set up various forms of checks and balances to help ensure this. It’s true that in the present day, many of these checks and balances seem to be floundering a bit.

Many Americans would like to see an abolishment of the Electoral College for its propensity to elect presidents who fail to gain a majority of the popular vote. Many would likewise do away with the two senators-per-state rule, and the disproportionate power it gives to less populous states over more populous ones. Many would similarly desire a reworking of the Supreme Court so that its unelected justices no longer serve life terms, or increase its numbers to unskew its current domination by conservatives.

All of these ideas have a certain amount of merit. But one thing I feel the Founders got right was in giving states the power to set their own path without being lorded over by the feds. Despite its various shortcomings, it remains one of their most far-sighted achievements.

If states didn’t have this power, I would be a criminal to this day. If states didn’t have this power, many Americans would have to consider giving up their citizenship to become refugees in a foreign land in order to be granted what should be basic rights and liberties. But we don’t. At worst, you simply have to move states. (I know, I know. Easier said than done.)

At the risk of letting my West Coast chauvinism show, I can’t for the life of me fathom why any non-American Taliban would want to live somewhere like Mississippi or Arkansas anyway. Who would want to be surrounded by massively overweight, undereducated, Bible-toting, gunslinging rednecks when you could instead be surfing on a Pacific beach, kayaking through the San Juan islands, or hiking the majestic peaks and old-growth forests of the Cascades? Why settle for Wonder Bread when there’s sushi and Thai food in abundance?

It’s not too late to take Horace Greeley’s long-ago advice to “Go West, young [wo]man.” Or to listen to Jim Morrison, “The West is the best.” We’ve still got plenty of land here. The air is fresh, the reefer chronic (and cheap), the IPAs plentiful, and there’s a Planned Parenthood clinic in every fair-sized city.

Someday America will be no longer. When that day comes, as sad as the thought makes me, I can at least take solace in knowing that Cascadia will remain a powerful, wealthy, and independent nation. It will remain a bastion of individual liberty, of social and environmental justice, a kaleidoscopic melting pot of diverse cultures and languages, and a place of raw, natural beauty. And it will be so largely because of the current ability of states to chart their own path.

Until that distant day arrives though, or until America as a whole comes to its senses and finally grants all its citizens the full rights and protections they deserve, I say leave the backwaters to the haters and mosquitos. And good riddance!

Colby Hess is a freelance writer and photographer from Seattle, and author of the freethinker children’s book The Stranger of Wigglesworth.

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