Case study Marijuana

When some states such as California legalised marijuana, the federal government claimed that this was in fact a federal responsibility, not a state one. The ensuing Supreme Court case featured a battle between the federal and state government in Gonzales v Raich 2005. In this case the Supreme Court interpreted the power of Congress in a broad manner, stating that the interstate commerce clause allowed the federal government to regulate California. This was because, the court argued, the legalisation of production of marijuana in California would have an impact on the supply and demand of the drug across the US, thus affecting interstate commerce.