It took the Colorado Supreme Court a year to come up with the ruling, issued on Monday, that upheld the firing of a man who used medical marijuana legally under state law to help ease the pain he has suffered since a car accident left him paralyzed. A lot of that time had to be devoted to twisting the logic behind the decision.

There has been a lot of speculation about what the ruling means for Colorado’s legal marijuana industry, and other states that have permitted the use of marijuana for medical, and in a few cases, recreational, purposes.

But really it only makes one thing clear: the only solution to the pointless and profoundly damaging marijuana prohibition in this country is a federal solution. As long as the federal government continues not only to outlaw marijuana, but to classify it as one of the most dangerous narcotics, anti-prohibition efforts in states are subject to the sort of capricious ruling issued in Colorado. [Read more at The New York Times‘ Taking Note blog]