Federal Government ignoring state laws

[Vampyr]

Has this ever happened before?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-1...epartment.html

Basically the Federal Government has said that it will straight up ignore Prop 19 if it passes in California.

I'm not anti-Federal government like many conservatives and libertarians are, but this seems pretty frightening. What's the point of laws if they can just be ignored?

[Ginkasa]

Fed law trumps state law. Always has. If marijuana is illegal in the US as a whole then there's not a whole lot California (or any state) alone could do to change that.

This is basically something out of nothing.

[Vampyr]

Yeah, I guess so, and in retrospect it doesn't really matter - there's no way the feds have the resources to try to enforce anything without local police cooperation.

[Professor S]

Basically, even if the Fed ignores Prop 19, they likelihood of getting busted for consumer use is virtually non-existent because local law enforcement would not be able to touch you, the FBI or DEA would have to and their resources are fa more limited.

What would be affected is the commercial sale of pot and the open growing of it in the state. Much easier targets. Basically, it would be Christmas for drug cartels with open consumption while production remains prohibited inside state lines. A lot of blood will be spilled.

In order for pot prohibition to end, it will need to be federally mandated. Until then, any legalization will only make the true problems worse.