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Yes We Can(nabis) "Government exists to protect us from each other. Where Government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." In saying this, President Ronald Reagan spoke with the voice of true American liberalism. The United States was born of the spirit of liberty as it sought freedom from oppressive government. The new country thrived on the concept of limited government, however time progressed, government grew, ignorance and hidden agendas flourished, and liberty was lost as the state acquired more power over the lives of its citizens. One such lost liberty was the right to grow and make use of cannabis, which received a federal ban in 1937. This act should be reversed due to its unconstitutionality, inhibition of national economic success, and promotion of drug lords and organized crime.

Since the origin of the federal ban on marijuana, the courts have upheld the law through use of the interstate commerce power granted to Congress in Article I of the United States Constitution; however such use is a perversion of the article's original intent. It could be (at least on a strictly unconstitutional sense) reasonable for Congress to use this power to prevent the interstate trade of cannabis and its products, however interstate commerce has no connection to intrastate activities, which is why an amendment to the constitution was required to ban alcohol during the prohibition era. The constitution is meant to procure federalism by limiting the federal government in order to grant a degree of sovereignty in the states, but this intent was disregarded when Congress chose to overstep its bounds by declaring private practices criminal.

The federal ban of marijuana has stifled the legitimate economy by neglecting the many uses of the cannabis plant. Cannabis has been shown to create more (hemp) paper than the trees that are currently used, is an eco-friendly source of clothing material, is a more potent biofuel than corn, and could be used to replace various pharmaceuticals and artificial painkillers. The legalization of cannabis would be an environmentally friendly route to preventing the destruction of woodlands, help lessen the country's dependency on foreign and off-shore drilling, and cut the cost of medical bills in certain cases, both for suppliers and consumers.

By making the still accessible marijuana trade illegal, the government has given drug lords a place in the market and provided an avenue for money and power for gangs

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