Arkansas voters who passed the medical marijuana bill in November may have overlooked one key fact.
It's not something written into the legislation, nor is it anything that proponents particular wanted to publicize. But it has the potential to force thousands of Arkansans to choose between whatever positive effects they think can be had through medical marijuana and exercising their rights under the Second Amendment.
Federal law denies gun purchases to any "unlawful user and/or an addict of any controlled substance."
But wait, you might say. Arkansas made medical marijuana legal, right?
Not so fast. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. And according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, marijuana users are prohibited from buying guns "regardless of whether [their] State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes."
A case of federal overreach? Not so fast.
The nation's most liberal appeals body, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, ruled in September that the ban passes constitutional muster, saying that the government has a valid reason for restricting gun rights for marijuana users. The court said that "it is beyond dispute" that using marijuana or other illegal drugs "raises the risk of irrational or unpredictable behavior with which gun use should not be associated."
We are sure many would disagree with the court on that. Good luck using that as a defense if you are caught lying about marijuana use on your Form 4473 when trying to buy a gun.
Even having guns in the house along with medical marijuana puts you in legal peril. Why? Because federal law denies not only purchases, but ownership to anyone using an illegal drug-which pot remains on a national level. And federal law is particularly harsh. Sentences are especially draconian when guns and drugs meet.
So there you have it. Barring legalization of marijuana on a federal level or a U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing the appellate court, medical marijuana users will have to choose between their treatment and their guns.
Well, there is a third choice. Risk it and possibly end up in prison. Maybe for a very, very long time.