i would have to agree with the WSJ, but writing scripts for addictive opioids to certain chronic pain patients makes me feel like a pusher. I can't help it.
 

Great article, Ralphie. Thanks for pointing us to it.

Drug legalization is one of the issues on which conservatives whom I respect differ. Bill Bennett and Dennis Prager are against legalization. Buckley is for (and many others). It's painful, like watching your parents fight. I gotta say that I'm moving toward Buckley's side.

But stronger than my opinion on this one issue is my love for the moribund tenth amendment and the long-deceased ideal of federalism. (I waxed longingly about the tenth amendment when McCain literally made a federal case of steroids in baseball.) I would very much like to see the federal government shrink and the states take over much of what the fed currently does. The states will do this in 50 different ways and then we can all learn from the consequences of the different approaches. That would be … sort of like liberty!

I get some perverse pleasure from seeing liberals learn this lesson at their expense. How do you like it when liberal activist judges rule that federal law trumps state law on medical marijuana because of the $%#&ing interstate commerce clause? The same clause that liberals have used for all sorts of social engineering, protection of non-human species without regard to the consequence to humans, and countless intrusions on property rights. How's it feel when federal power is abused and you're on the losing side?

The moral of the story is that an intrusive and unchecked federal government is bad for everyone. Liberals have to learn the tough lesson that judicial restraint is fair for all, but the consequence of that is that some states will do stuff we don't like. That's called democracy.