Washington, DC: Judges on the US Supreme Court have declined to take up a lower court case challenging the constitutionality of federal marijuana prohibition.
Petitioners argued that Congress’ reliance on the Commerce Clause of the Fifth Amendment to prohibit the trafficking of state-legal cannabis products exceeds its constitutional authority. Lower courts had rejected petitioners’ arguments and justices on the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari.
The Supreme Court previously upheld the constitutionality of federal cannabis prohibition in 2005 in the case Gonzalez v. Raich. However, in 2021, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas opined that the Court ought to revisit that decision because federal policies [since then] have greatly undermined [the Court’s] reasoning.”
NORML had previously raised similar arguments in the federal case US v. Schweder et al. However, the judge in that case ultimately determined that Congress’ decision to criminalize marijuana was not without a “rational basis.”
“At some point in time, a court may decide this status to be unconstitutional,” the judge ruled. “But this is not the court and not the time.”
The case is Canna Provisions et al. v Bondi.