Medical Marijuana Backers Sue Federal Government

Here's one new thing the backers of legal pot have in common with the Tea Party: love of the 10th Amendment. A group that backs medical marijuana has sued the US attorney general, arguing that the recent crackdown by the feds in California infringes on states' rights outlined in the Constitution, reports the Los Angeles Times. It's the latest front in the battle over a thorny problem: California and other states sanction medical marijuana, but it remains illegal under federal law.

US attorneys are "not just enforcing marijuana laws, they are doing something extremely unusual in an effort to quash the medical marijuana programs in the various states," says the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access. "They're not allowed to commandeer the lawmaking functions of the state." (More medical marijuana stories.)