I have always believed strongly that the Ninth Circuit District and Court of Appeals were wrong in preventing the federal government from declaring that assisted suicide is not a legitimate medical use of federally controlled substances (e.g., narcotics), even in the face of the Oregon law legalizing assisted suicide. Now, with Gonzales v. Raich, it would seem that the Supreme Court of the United States is very likely to uphold the federal view as against the claim by Oregon that its right to regulate medical practice within state borders trumps federal regulation of the CSA. I hope to write a more detailed analysis soon.
Notes on Anosmia
One morning several years ago, as my wife, Wendy, and I were having breakfast together, I had…
Empire of Unreality
Shiva Naipaul (1945–1985) was the author of three novels and two books of mordant dispatches from places…
The Dreadful Christ of Pär Lagerkvist
It’s dangerous to meet a god,” says the disgraced Pythia in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sibyl. Her observation…