Cato Daily Dispatch for December 17, 2003
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An Appeals Court Win for Medical Marijuana UsersBush Signs Anti-Spam Bill
NASA Chief: Space Goals Will Be Realistic
An Appeals Court Win for Medical Marijuana Users
"People who use marijuana for medical purposes won a victory Tuesday from a federal appeals court that ruled they cannot be prosecuted by the federal government so long as they grow their own or obtain pot from other growers without charge," the Los Angeles Times reports.
"The 2-1 decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco would protect many medical marijuana users from prosecution in California and six other Western states - Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington - that have laws approving the use of marijuana for medical purposes."
In a statement regarding the decision, Cato Vice President for Legal Affairs Roger Pilon said: "Although yesterday's decision simply overturned the district court's earlier denial of a preliminary injunction against the federal government, the panel found that the plaintiffs are likely to win on the merits and so are entitled to a preliminary injunction pending adjudication on the merits. In so ruling, the panel drew heavily on arguments presented by Cato Senior Fellow Randy Barnett, representing the plaintiffs, that enforcement of the Act in cases like this would extend Congress's power beyond the limits authorized by the Constitution. The opinion is thus consistent with the Rehnquist Court's recent federalism decisions, which have sought to limit the reach of Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce."
Barnett is the author of the forthcoming Cato book, Restoring the Lost Constitution.
Bush Signs Anti-Spam Bill
"A new law that President Bush signed Tuesday will outlaw shady techniques used by some of the Internet's most prolific e-mailers, but the government still hasn't decided if it will create a do-not-spam registry of e-mail users," The Associated Press reports.
"The law will prohibit senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from disguising their identities by using false return addresses or misleading subject lines, and it will prohibit senders from harvesting addresses off Web sites."
In "Why Canning 'Spam' Is a Bad Idea," Director of Technology Policy Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. writes: "Spam is just one form of marketing and is arguably less invasive than door-to-door selling or telemarketing. There are clearly different levels of 'guilt' with respect to spamming practices. It is best to allow people to decide for themselves whether or not to entertain sales pitches, particularly given the range of problems legislation would create. And to the extent that unsolicited marketing is responsible for the growth of the Internet and future communications options, the hindrance of commerce could hamper access for many people, resulting in a government-created digital divide."
NASA Chief: Space Goals Will Be Realistic
"When President Bush decides on a new policy of space exploration for the nation, the goals will be realistic and achievable, the NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, said on Tuesday,"
"O'Keefe said in an interview that the interagency task force gathering options for the president in space policy was working to avoid 'pie in the sky' goals that may be grandiose and exciting but impractical for financial and technical reasons."
Space: The Free Market Frontier, edited by Cato Adjunct Scholar Edward Hudgins, includes essays by several leading experts, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who detail how the United States can move from the federally run, inefficient, and inaccessible space program to a free-market system.
"To move from the current situation of limited access to space and to truly make space a place for humans to work and play and live, it is useful to consider how we arrived at the current situation, what signs hold the promise of a commercial market future, and what policy changes might make space the next commercial market frontier," writes Hudgins. "The obvious way to open space to all is for NASA to back out of civilian space activities and let the private sector do what it does so well in other areas of the economy: reduce costs and develop new, innovative products and services."
Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org
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