Over the past few weeks various forms of drugs have made the news. The first was the revelation of steroid usage by some professional athletes. The second was the medical marijuana case argued before the Supreme Court. Both events are similar in that they involve drugs and also because they could share a common fate: excessive external interference.
Baseball is trying to deal with the curve ball that several players, including Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, reportedly used steroids provided by BALCO trainers. The reports came from leaked grand jury testimony and other allegations have surfaced against other athletes, including track star Marion Jones. The revelations brought swift reactions and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) couldn't resist jumping in.
McCain had no problem finding a microphone and demanding stronger testing standards for major league players. McCain had previously demanded that baseball do a better job policing itself and he reiterated his demand by stating, "I'll give them until January, and then I'll introduce legislation."
It is reflexive to immediately demand that a stronger standard be implemented but the threat of legislation is simply overbearing here. Federal intervention is not needed here. Neither is judicial intervention needed in the case of Angel Raich.
Raich suffers from an untreatable brain tumor and uses marijuana, prescribed by her doctor, to alleviate her pain. Her use of pot for medicinal purposes is legal in California (and in nine other states) but federal law bans marijuana completely under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Raich and her lawyer, Randy Barnett, contend that the Act is unconstitutional because it oversteps the bounds of enumerated powers, or powers specifically given to the states within the constitutional framework.
The government says otherwise, saying the usage falls as commerce, which the government can constitutionally regulate. However, surprising allies have sprung up for Angel Raich, including the state of Alabama, which has possibly the strongest anti-drug laws in the nation and has filed a brief supporting California. It is a case of strange bedfellows considering how Alabama would benefit the most from California's law being invalidated.
The best explanation of their position comes from Jonathan Adler. Said Adler, "While agreeing ... that California's medical-marijuana policy is "profoundly misguided," Alabama argued that upholding the federal prosecution of medical-marijuana users is a greater threat than letting sick people get high in California pursuant to a validly enacted state law."
And therein lays the rub for both baseball and Angel Raich. No matter how one disagrees with the current policies in place, there are bounds that should not be crossed to rectify the "wrongs." Neither baseball nor California should be interfered with in matters that are theirs to deal with.
McCain can urge baseball to adopt stricter standards all he wants but pursuing a legislative solution would supercede Major League Baseball's authority wrongly. Similarly, in the case of Angel Raich, judicial interference isn't needed. If the Supreme Court overruled the California law, they would effectively set down law for every state and supercede the states' enumerated powers.
Either way, no matter what one thinks of the current baseball policy or California medical marijuana law, there is a greater principle in play: outside interference is an unnecessary and excessive usage of federal power for these issues.
Write to Jeff at mannedarena@yahoo.com
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