Medical marijuana or gun ownership

[98valk]

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/cannabis/patients-medical-marijuana-2nd-amendment-rights-gun-20171228.html

The town drunk can buy firearms. So can someone who has been involuntarily placed in a mental hospital for a short stay. But anyone who wants to treat Crohn’s disease with medical marijuana is forbidden from owning a gun.

Pennsylvania is preparing to roll out a statewide program in early 2018 that will provide medicinal cannabis products to patients suffering from 17 serious health conditions.

But some sick people will have to make a difficult decision: Is taking the medicine worth surrendering what gun-owning advocates see as an enshrined constitutional right?

“It’s hypocritical,” said lawyer Andrew Sacks, the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Medical Marijuana and Hemp Law Committee.

“You can be an opioid addict, or buy a bottle of rum, drink it and go to a store and buy one,” Sacks said. “But a person who is registered as a medical marijuana patient in Pennsylvania, and has a very small dosage of THC, can’t own a gun to protect themselves or hunt.”

A state police spokesman strongly suggested that patients also consider the consequences of holding on to any guns bought before enrolling in the medical marijuana program.

“It’s unlawful to keep possession of firearms obtained prior to registering,” spokesman Ryan Tarkowski said. “The Pennsylvania State Police is not in the business of offering legal advice, but it might be a good idea to contact an attorney about how best to dispose of their firearms.”

Twenty-nine states, including Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have legalized marijuana in some form.

But under federal law, all forms of marijuana remain strictly forbidden. The DEA considers it a Schedule 1 drug, on par with heroin and LSD, with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulates the sale and ownership of guns and ammunition across the nation. ATF spokeswoman Cherie R. Duvall-Jones said any use of marijuana is a disqualifier.

“There are no exceptions in federal law for marijuana purportedly used for medicinal purposes, even if such use is sanctioned by state law,” said Duvall-Jones.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled last year that the federal prohibition does not violate the Second Amendment.

[Oss]

California is in the 9th circuit

[Gavin_Sons]

I think if you can own a gun and drink alcohol then you should be able to smoke weed and own guns. I see very little difference. In fact i think alcohol is much worse than pot.

[MP]

MJ is a schedule one drug. Any use of schedule one drug disqualifies one from buying guns.
Alcohol is not a schedule one drug. No disqualification.
Simple.

[Gavin_Sons]

MJ is a schedule one drug. Any use of schedule one drug disqualifies one from buying guns.
Alcohol is not a schedule one drug. No disqualification.
Simple.

Says the government. I have a bigger problem with alcohol than i do pot.

[Skinhead]

MJ is a schedule one drug. Any use of schedule one drug disqualifies one from buying guns.
Alcohol is not a schedule one drug. No disqualification.
Simple.

Says the government. I have a bigger problem with alcohol than i do pot.

I Agree.  Take MJ off the Schedule One schedule, problem solved. 

[3fan4life]

They should legalize it and tax the crap out of it, with every tax dollar received from it earmarked to pay down the Federal Deficit.

[The emperor has no clothes]

MJ is a schedule one drug. Any use of schedule one drug disqualifies one from buying guns.
Alcohol is not a schedule one drug. No disqualification.
Simple.

Says the government. I have a bigger problem with alcohol than i do pot.

I Agree.  Take MJ off the Schedule One schedule, problem solved. 

Unfortunately the current Attorney General is going the other direction.

[Jess from VA]

Mary Jane may make certain chronic symptoms more bearable, but it has not yet been found to cure any injury or disease (although I have read it really slows down the progress of progressive Glaucoma). IMHO, medical MJ is used for recreation and not treatment in the vast majority of alleged medical cases.

Patient:  Doc, I get headaches all the time.

Doc:  OK, here's your script.  Enjoy.

So if you want to keep your guns, don't enroll in medical MJ.

I agree it should come off (and have never been put on) the top Schedule 1 of federal narcotics; that's just ridiculous.  

I suppose it's unfair to a number of actual legitimate medical cases (like terminal cancer), but in the grand scheme of things, it's way down the list of important issues the G should be dealing with.  

It's my understanding that if you want medical MJ, it's easy to get in all those States.  So send your wife or grandma down for the script and stay off the list and keep your guns.  It's all a hoax anyway.  (this is far from legal advice BTW)  

It's not like medical use does you any good with a security clearance, or required routine/random job urinalysis, or impaired driving laws.

[hubcapsc]

They should legalize it and tax the crap out of it, with every tax dollar received from it earmarked to pay down the Federal Deficit.

They're finding out that if they tax it too much, it doesn't thwart the black market.

-Mike

[da prez]

   Here , hold my beer and gun , I want to light a joint.

                              da prez

[DirtyDan]

Ask ANY emergency room worker marijuana is not a big deal

Alcohol on the other hand, my night in jail, crashed the bike, broke my arm

And that was BEER

Dan