The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled in favor of a group of Florida medical cannabis patients who alleged that preventing them from owning guns due to their doctor-prescribed medical practices is unconstitutional, Reuters reports.
Federal law prevents anyone who consumes a federally controlled substance — like cannabis, which remains Schedule I under federal law — from legally possessing firearms. The lawsuit, however, hinges on a 2022 Supreme Court decision requiring gun restrictions to be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Originally accompanied by then-Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D), the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in 2022, arguing that the federal policy violates the Second Amendment rights of state-approved medical cannabis patients. The lawsuit also claimed the policy violates a congressional budget provision to prevent federal interference with state-level cannabis programs.
“As we have argued from the beginning of this case, the 2nd Amendment does not permit the federal government to categorically deem all medical marijuana patients to be too dangerous to exercise their core constitutional rights.” — William Hall, attorney for the plaintiffs at Jones Walker, in a statement
It’s the second major victory for cannabis patient gun owners this year after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January reaffirmed that the federal prosecution of a Mississippi man who was caught possessing a firearm while having also consumed cannabis had violated the Second Amendment.
