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St. Louis, MO: Judges on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals have rejected arguments that the federal government can unconditionally bar adults from possessing firearms because of their status as cannabis consumers.
The Court opined that “Nothing in our tradition allows disarmament simply because [the defendant] belongs to a category of people, drug users, that Congress has categorically deemed dangerous.” Rather, judges determined that constitutional questions surrounding the disarmament of drug users must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
Federal officials have long maintained that marijuana’s illicit status under federal law precludes any consumer from legally owning a firearm.
The ruling is the latest in a series of decisions challenging the government’s interpretation of a 1968 law prohibiting the possession of a firearm by an “unlawful user” of a federally controlled substance. Judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals have twice ruled that Americans’ 2nd Amendment rights cannot be infringed solely based upon one’s substance use.
A separate legal challenge to the federal government’s ban, initially brought by former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (who now serves as a member of NORML’s Board of Directors) and several medical cannabis patients, remains pending in the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
The case is United States v Cooper.
“}]] Judges determined disarmament must be addressed on a case-by-case basis Read More
