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The Justice Department is doubling down on its position that medical marijuana patients who possess firearms \u201cendanger public safety,\u201d \u201cpose a greater risk of suicide\u201d and are more likely to commit crimes \u201cto fund their drug habit\u201d\u2014justifying, in the government\u2019s eyes, a federal ban on gun ownership by cannabis consumers.<\/p>\n
Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that upheld the constitutionality of governments setting certain gun restrictions<\/a> in a case centered around domestic violence-related prohibitions, the justices remanded a pending cannabis and Second Amendment rights case back to the lower court for reconsideration.<\/p>\n Late last week, plaintiffs and DOJ submitted briefs in a separate case that responded to the potential implications of the high court\u2019s latest decision for the federal statute barring gun ownership by cannabis consumers.<\/p>\n In the filings submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, DOJ urged the panel to affirm an initial district court ruling that deemed the cannabis and firearms ban to be constitutional, while appellants are requesting a reversal of the order.<\/p>\n This is the latest development in the two-year case, with a group of Florida medical cannabis patients arguing that their Second Amendment rights are being violated because they cannot lawfully buy firearms so long as they are using cannabis as medicine, despite acting in compliance with state law.<\/p>\n Former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D), who now serves as chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party,\u00a0first raised the lawsuit against DOJ in 2022<\/a>\u00a0in her capacity as a state official. She\u2019s no longer party to the lawsuit since leaving office, and her\u00a0GOP successor has declined to get involved<\/a>. In the background of this case, voters in the state are set to decide on a broader recreational marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot in November.<\/p>\n \u201cArmed drug users endanger the public in multiple ways,\u201d the Justice Department said in its new filing in the cannabis and guns case, adding that the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Rahimi demonstrated that governments are afforded \u201csignificant leeway to enact firearms regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals who possess firearms while engaged in regular use of illegal drugs endanger public safety in multiple ways. First, drug users may mishandle firearms\u2014or use firearms to commit crimes\u2014because of \u2018drug-induced changes in physiological functions, cognitive ability, and mood.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The federal government argued today that people who use medical marijuana in compliance with their state’s laws can be disarmed because they “endanger public safety in multiple ways”, such as being more likely to “mishandle firearms\u2014or use firearms to commit crimes”, “commit\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/6BnZtj1x2M<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) July 12, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A footnote in DOJ\u2019s brief also argues that the Biden administration\u2019s ongoing move to reschedule marijuana would not undermine the current statute.<\/p>\n The Justice Department has claimed in multiple federal cases over the past several years that the statute banning cannabis consumers from owning or possessing guns<\/a>\u00a0is constitutional because it\u2019s consistent with the nation\u2019s history of disarming \u201cdangerous\u201d individuals.<\/p>\n The government revived that argument in the latest briefs, asserting that \u201cillegal drug users can use firearms to commit crimes that fund their drug habit, to engage in violence as part of the drug business or culture, and to commit suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n It also contested the appellants\u2019 position that the ban should not apply to medical cannabis patients who are not actively impaired. The \u201crisks justify disarming unlawful drug users even between periods of drug intoxication,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Another point DOJ raised that it\u2019s previously argued is the idea that, if the restriction on medical cannabis patients is found to be unconstitutional, it would cause a domino effect where governments would no longer be able to enforce gun restrictions on any users of controlled substances, \u201cincluding cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat approach is plainly unworkable and would cast doubt not only on the longstanding provision of federal law at issue here,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n On the other side, attorneys for the medical cannabis patients who are challenging the constitutionality of the gun ban said in their brief that there is a clear distinction between the domestic violence case at the center of Rahimi and the right of people who use marijuana in compliance with state laws to buy and possess firearms.<\/p>\n In the former case, a person was convicted of shooting a gun, being subject to a restraining order and continuing to face allegations of acts of violence, it said. \u201cThe latter simply ingest marijuana in reliance upon their state\u2019s law, their doctor\u2019s recommendation, and Congress\u2019 express protection of such action.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no reasonable argument (be it historical or logical) in which Rahimi is law abiding or responsible and the Appellants are not,\u201d the brief said. \u201cYet, the Supreme Court did not declare Rahimi to be wholly excluded from the Second Amendment\u2019s protections.\u201d<\/p>\n The appellants also disputed the Justice Department\u2019s attempts to link historical laws barring people who are intoxicated or mentally ill from owning guns with those who use cannabis in a state-legal medical context.<\/p>\n The brief says that \u201cAppellants seek only narrow, common-sense relief. Any risk of firearm misuse they pose can be mitigated by prohibited the possession of a firearm while they are under the influence of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe historical laws and traditions relied upon in Rahimi make clear that the Appellants may not be constitutionally disarmed for their medical marijuana use,\u201d the brief says, seeking an order of dismissal of the district court\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n These developments about a month after President Joe Biden\u2019s son, Hunter, was convicted by a federal jury of violating statute by buying and possessing a gun while an active user of crack cocaine.<\/p>\n Two Republican congressmen challenged the basis of that conviction, with one pointing out that\u00a0there are \u201cmillions of marijuana users\u201d who own guns<\/a>\u00a0but should not be prosecuted.<\/p>\n Attorneys for Hunter Biden had similarly argued that prosecutors were applying an unconstitutional statute that would\u00a0criminalize millions of marijuana consumers acting in compliance with state law<\/a>\u00a0if broadly enforced.<\/p>\n \u2014 Meanwhile, some states have passed their own laws either further restricting or attempting to preserve gun rights as they relate to marijuana. Recently, for example, a Pennsylvania lawmaker introduced a bill meant to\u00a0remove state barriers to medical marijuana patients carrying firearms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Colorado organizers are also working to qualify a prospective state ballot measure that would\u00a0remove a barrier around the issuance of concealed handgun permits<\/a>, specifying that whether someone is an \u201cunlawful user of or addicted to marijuana\u201d should be determined \u201conly as provided in state law and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, for example, the Justice Department told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that historical precedent \u201ccomfortably\u201d supports the restriction. Cannabis consumers with guns pose a unique danger to society, the Biden administration claimed, in part because they\u2019re\u00a0\u201cunlikely\u201d to store their weapon properly<\/a>.<\/p>\n The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled last year that\u00a0the ban prohibiting people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional<\/a>, with the judge stating that the federal government\u2019s justification for upholding the law is \u201cconcerning.\u201d<\/p>\n In U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a judge ruled last April that banning people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional\u2014and it said the same legal principle\u00a0also applies to the sale and transfer of guns<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last August, meanwhile, ATF sent a letter to Arkansas officials saying that the state\u2019s recently enacted law\u00a0permitting medical cannabis patients to obtain concealed carry gun licenses<\/a>\u00a0\u201ccreates an unacceptable risk,\u201d and could\u00a0jeopardize the state\u2019s federally approved alternative firearm licensing policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shortly after Minnesota\u2019s governor signed a legalization bill into law last year,\u00a0the agency issued a reminder emphasizing<\/a>\u00a0that people who use cannabis are barred from possessing and purchases guns and ammunition \u201cuntil\u201d federal prohibition ends.<\/p>\n In 2020, ATF\u00a0issued an advisory specifically targeting Michigan<\/a>\u00a0that requires gun sellers to conduct federal background checks on all unlicensed gun buyers because it said the state\u2019s cannabis laws had enabled \u201chabitual marijuana users\u201d and other disqualified individuals to obtain firearms illegally.<\/p>\n The Hawaii attorney general\u2019s office recently released data showing that, of the roughly 500 firearm permit applications denied by officials in the state last year,\u00a0more than 40 percent were rejected because of applicants\u2019 status as medical marijuana patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the DOJ and medical cannabis patient briefs<\/a> in the federal gun ban case below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Pennsylvania Dispensaries Omitted From Medical Marijuana Industry 280E Tax Relief Due To Drafting Error In Bill Governor Signed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The post DOJ Doubles Down On Claim That Medical Marijuana Patients \u2018Endanger Public Safety\u2019 If They Own Guns<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department is doubling down on its position that medical marijuana patients who possess firearms \u201cendanger public safety,\u201d \u201cpose a greater risk of suicide\u201d and are more likely to commit crimes \u201cto fund their drug habit\u201d\u2014justifying, in the government\u2019s eyes, a federal ban on gun ownership by cannabis consumers.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":76883,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76884,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76882\/revisions\/76884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: DOJ Doubles Down On Claim That Medical Marijuana Patients \u2018Endanger Public Safety\u2019 If They Own Guns<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"