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Washington DC's legal weed debate spills over into Maryland politics
Source: The Guardian
Washington DC's legal weed debate spills over into Maryland politics
Ben Jacobs in New York
Thursday 19 March 2015 16.41 GMT
Andy Harris, the Republican congressman who tried to block Washington DC’s legalization of marijuana, may face a tough election challenge as a result. Ironically, it’ll be a primary challenge from his right.
Former Maryland delegate Michael Smigiel told the Guardian that he is planning to run in the Republican primary for Maryland’s first congressional district in April 2016. Smigiel, a former three-term state legislator who narrowly lost a 2014 bid for re-election following redistricting, believes there has to be “a libertarian representing the views of the Eastern Shore (of Maryland)” and that the district needs a congressman who will “stand up to the president and stand up for the constitution” on issues like immigration reform.
But Smigiel saves some of his fiercest criticism for Harris over the capital’s marijuana law, where Harris inserted language in a government funding bill to invalidate a ballot initiative legalizing cannabis in the District. (There is still ongoing debate over whether the language actually has any legal effect.)
To Smigiel, Harris’s criticism of marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado is entirely wrong. He argues that “the 10th amendment says state laws trump federal laws” on things like marijuana. (This is a statement that runs counter to the constitution’s supremacy clause, and supreme court precedent in cases like Cooper v Aaron.) Although Smigiel takes pains to note that Washington DC isn’t technically a state, he thinks the same principle applies. “People should be allowed to spend their money how they wish at the local level,” said the Maryland Republican.
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Ben Jacobs in New York
Thursday 19 March 2015 16.41 GMT
Andy Harris, the Republican congressman who tried to block Washington DC’s legalization of marijuana, may face a tough election challenge as a result. Ironically, it’ll be a primary challenge from his right.
Former Maryland delegate Michael Smigiel told the Guardian that he is planning to run in the Republican primary for Maryland’s first congressional district in April 2016. Smigiel, a former three-term state legislator who narrowly lost a 2014 bid for re-election following redistricting, believes there has to be “a libertarian representing the views of the Eastern Shore (of Maryland)” and that the district needs a congressman who will “stand up to the president and stand up for the constitution” on issues like immigration reform.
But Smigiel saves some of his fiercest criticism for Harris over the capital’s marijuana law, where Harris inserted language in a government funding bill to invalidate a ballot initiative legalizing cannabis in the District. (There is still ongoing debate over whether the language actually has any legal effect.)
To Smigiel, Harris’s criticism of marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado is entirely wrong. He argues that “the 10th amendment says state laws trump federal laws” on things like marijuana. (This is a statement that runs counter to the constitution’s supremacy clause, and supreme court precedent in cases like Cooper v Aaron.) Although Smigiel takes pains to note that Washington DC isn’t technically a state, he thinks the same principle applies. “People should be allowed to spend their money how they wish at the local level,” said the Maryland Republican.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/19/michael-smigiel-maryland-andy-harris-congress-2016
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