We Won't Interfere Unless We Decide To

The Drug War Chronicle notes that last week John Kerry said he opposes federal interference with Oregon's medical marijuana and assisted suicide laws. But it was not exactly a ringing endorsement of federalism. "Individual states have the right to make a decision until the federal government has made an alternative one," Kerry told a Portland TV station, adding that "we don't have the information to make that, period." At best, Kerry seems to be saying that in these particular areas the feds don't know enough (yet?) to override the states, not that the Constitution bars them from doing so. Still, Kerry's approach sounds better than the Bush administration's heavy-handedness, which flies in the face of the president's avowed dedication to "the strict interpretation of the law."