Federal Laws
In the arena of implementation of federal laws, concerns are sometimes raised on the part of individual states as to the consequences that the specific enactment of such rules will have for their own constituencies. One notable instance in which such issues have arisen on the point of the implementations of laws on a state as opposed to a nationwide level is in the issue of state drug laws, which in California have sometimes taken unusually permissive and liberal forms in regards to existing federal laws. In 2010, this issue once again reared its head in the dramatic embodiment of fourteen state attorney generals announcing that they intended to file suit against the new Congressional bill, approved by the House of Representatives after a bitter and hard-fought legislative and media battle, overhauling the nation's health care system to a model intended to favor health care consumers over insurance providers. One of the central planks of the bill in regard to federal laws is the sweeping requirement that individuals have some form of health insurance, which has been picked up on by the state-based opponents of the bill's legality in charging that it is unconstitutional. Legal scholars have cautioned, however, that the consequences of the previous case involving the extent of state powers in terms of laws is likely to prevent opponents of the new bill from gaining much traction.