How state reforms changed federal enforcement of marijuana prohibition

In Politics by Michael Rae

Introduction

The history of drug prohibitions and enforcement efforts in the United States always reflects a kind of federalism in action. Because the federal government always lacks the resources and often the political will to fully enforce drug prohibitions nationwide, state laws and local practices will inevitably shape and color the full picture of U.S. drug policy and enforcement. When alcohol prohibition was written into our nation’s Constitution, for example, state and local officials embraced an array of different approaches to enforcing temperance, which produced a patchwork of on-the-ground practices across the nation.In modern times, marijuana prohibitions and reforms present the

Read more at Reason.org