[Jim Noble]

Sessions and the federal Justice Department still have the authority to crack down on cannabis use

I am against legalizing marijuana, and I believe states can and should prohibit it.

But.

If Congress knew in 1917 that the Constitution would have to be amended to grant them authority to pass Federal legislation to regulate or ban alcohol - what changed between 1917 and 1970 to give Congress the authority to regulate or ban marijuana?

I contend that Congress has no such authority.

[hanamizu]

give Congress the authority to regulate or ban marijuana?

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They didn’t outlaw it, they put a tax on it. They did the same thing with machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. In the case of marihuana they simply refused to issue the tax stamps. The tax has since been repealed, but by then Congress was well used to passing laws outside of the scope of Art. I sec. 8.

[GOP Poet]

Interesting and good point.

[familyop]

"If Congress knew in 1917 that the Constitution would have to be amended to grant them authority to pass Federal legislation to regulate or ban alcohol - what changed between 1917 and 1970 to give Congress the authority to regulate or ban marijuana?

I contend that Congress has no such authority."

The two situations were different with respect to the Constitution.

Anyone interested in learning can look at all of the historical and legal information leading up to and pertaining to the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act (also see the Hague Convention—very important) and the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. There were events that led to those laws and cases that resulted from them.