FBI Says Medical Marijuana Cultivators And Caregivers Can Own Guns, But Patients Cannot

My medicine or my gun?

This is a question medical marijuana patients who are also gun owners in the 38 legal MMJ states want answered.

What does the law say?

According to a 2019 FBI memo, that remained under the radar but was recently highlighted by the New York Times, medical marijuana (MMJ) growers and caregivers are permitted to own guns, but MMJ patients are not. It is still unclear if the memo has been updated over the last four years, wrote Marijuana Moment, which reached out to the agency, but did not receive a comment as yet.

See Also: Federal Court Strikes Down Gun Prohibition For Cannabis Users As Unconstitutional

“Possession of medical marijuana by an individual identified as a medical marijuana caregiver, grower, provider," etc. is not disqualifying the memo reads. “Use of the marijuana (or other controlled substance) must be established for the prohibition to exist. Similarly, an individual may possess a medical marijuana handler's card as a caregiver, grower, or provider for another party, but would not be disqualified, unless use was established.” 

The disqualification warrants the use over the “present time,” defined as the time frame within the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). 

Then, a person convicted for a controlled substance within the past year is also disqualified, even if the drug arrest occurred outside of the 12-month time frame. “Within the past year is defined as being 365 days from the conviction date,” the memo reads, which means that the use/possession could have happened more than one year ago. 

As for medical marijuana card holders, the following scenarios are used to determine the disqualification period:

• “One year from the date of the medical marijuana user card’s expiration date; or
• One year from the date of ‘admission’ of possession of the medical marijuana user card, if no expiration date is available; or
• One year from the date the medical marijuana user card is relinquished.”

DOJ Recent Action 

In November 2023, attorneys representing the Justice Department filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit last week, arguing that the prohibition on firearms for marijuana users is reasonable, citing historical parallels to limitations placed on the mentally ill and those with chronic alcohol problems during the era when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791.

The latest legal action is part of the case of Erik Matthew Harris in which the government is defending the marijuana-related ban against him after being convicted of violating the federal statute that prohibits the possession of a firearm by an individual deemed an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.”

“Given the impairments caused by marijuana and other illegal drugs, the temporary disarmament of individuals who regularly use or are addicted to such drugs fits comfortably within ‘this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,'” the DOJ said. “As explained, drug users are also more likely to use firearms to commit crimes to fund their drug habit, engage in violence as part of the drug business or culture, attack police officers who are investigating their drug crimes, and commit suicide.”

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Matthew Sichkaruk on Unsplash and Pixabay on Pexels.