Regarding Marijuana and Guns, Our work with Arizona NORML and Southern, Arizona NORML provides us with many opportunities. To help those who have wound up in trouble with the law even though they were acting within what they believed were the parameters of the law. We have decided to be proactive in an effort to help people to avoid unnecessary risks as marijuana becomes more accepted in mainstream society with this topic: Marijuana and Guns. This topic isn't new, Cannabis Radio also reported on the Marijuana and Guns issue in the past, as this isn't going away. We have to fight for our rights if we are to have the right to access both marijuana and guns.
NORML's COMMITMENT TO YOU
As we move forward, all NORML chapters in the state of Arizona are committed to creating educational webinars that focus on these types of issues. If you have a topic that you would like us to produce a webinar on, please email us at webinars@arizonanorml.org. With each webinar in our series, we intend to provide a scenario that reflects a typical situation that we encounter in our advocacy and use experts in the field to discuss that scenario.
The first scenario that we would like to discuss involves marijuana and guns. We are hopeful that you find these webinars as informative as we found them enjoyable to create.
https://www.facebook.com/NORML2.0/videos/2613582232226035/
Recorded August 18th, 2020
[caption id="attachment_17211" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Chronic Pain affects an estimated 50 million in the U.S. each year.[/caption]
Mike Wilson suffers from chronic pain due to a work-related injury. He has found that cannabis helps mitigate the worst of his symptoms and provides him with the analgesic relief necessary for him to be productive each day despite his lingering pain. Mike currently possesses a medical marijuana card in the state of Arizona which allows him to consume cannabis legally to treat his condition.
Because Mike grew up hunting with his father and older brothers, he has been trained in firearm safety throughout his life. Mike hasn’t possessed a gun since he was injured at work almost five years ago. Mike was talking with friends who were planning a hunting trip in northern Arizona and decided that he would like to join them on the excursion. However, Mike didn’t own a rifle to go hunting so he decided to purchase one.
Mike went to his local gun store and decided on a gun to purchase. The dealer immediately produced the ATF’s Firearms Transaction Record Form 4473 for Mike to fill out prior to the purchase. Mike began answering the questions on ATF Form 4473 but when he got to question 21(e), he was shocked and dismayed by what he read.
Question 21(e) inquires as to cannabis and drug use and asks the applicant to respond with a yes or no answer. Here is Question 21(e):
Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.
Mike was informed that if he has a medical marijuana card and consumes cannabis, then he is prohibited by Federal law to possess a gun or ammunition. Furthermore, Mike learned that the gun dealer cannot sell a firearm or ammunition to him if he answers in the affirmative relative to Question 21(e).
Mike didn’t know what to do. If he checked no so that he could purchase the firearm, he could face federal felony charges for falsely stating that he does not consume cannabis. If he checked yes, then he would be prohibited from purchasing or possessing a gun or ammunition. He never realized that marijuana and guns were something he needed to consider if having a medical marijuana card.
Mike’s situation is not unusual in the state of Arizona and similar scenarios play out on a regular basis due to the dichotomy of liberalized state marijuana laws and federal prohibition.
Mike was anxious for clarity on this issue and so are we.
Join us for a panel discussion on guns and marijuana in the state of Arizona. Get answers to Mike’s previously detailed dilemma and more!
The guest speakers who will be speaking to this issue this evening are:
Author - Adam Trenk