By: Maegan Camaisa Article V

Article V: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”

Explanation: Article 5 of the Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution may be altered. This is only possible if Amendments are proposed by either two-thirds of both houses of the United States Congress or by a national convention. The convention can be assembled by request of legislatures of at least two-thirds of the several states. For amendments to become part of the constitution, they must be ratified either by approval of the legislatures of three- fourths of the states or ratifying conventions which is held in three-fourths of the states. Congress holds the final say as to which method of ratification should be used.

Current Event: Obama: Marijuana is not a good strategy to spur economy Although, people constantly keep trying to legalize Marijuana for California only, Obama makes his final decision. The president makes it clear that he does not support legalizing marijuana as a means to spur economic growth. The decision would effectively end raids on registered medical marijuana providers in the handful of states that have moved to legalize the drug's use for medicinal purposes.

Relevance: Article V relates to this current event because California is trying to ratify the law of making marijuana legal in its state even though it is illegal on a national level.

Bibliography: strategy-to-spur-economy/ strategy-to-spur-economy/