In a landmark Supreme Court ruling, the nation’s highest court decided that the use of Cannabis fails as a reason to disarm citizens, ending a de facto ban on the right to bear arms for millions of Americans.
Since 1968, the federal government has had the authority to deny any user of illegal drugs their constitutional right to bear arms. This includes Cannabis, even in states where it was legalized, which has led to many otherwise lawful citizens facing federal firearms charges for otherwise legal behavior.
A 2022 Supreme Court decision set a historical precedent for the court to consider when reviewing gun laws, applying a test reviewing modern gun laws to the intention of the Constitution. Using this test, and comparing the use of Cannabis to that of habitual drinkers, the court found no historical argument for disarming and denying the rights of peaceful users of Cannabis.
The “unanimous 9-0 decision makes it clear that the government cannot make it (a) crime for people to own a gun, which the Supreme Court has held is a fundamental constitutional right, simply because they use marijuana,” Cecillia Wang, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said. Wang represented Ali Hemani, the Cannabis user indicted on federal gun charges for possessing a legally purchased gun and Cannabis.
The writers of the Constitution’s understanding of the nature of power came from Britain, where centuries of oppression, warrantless searches and unchecked authority by the Crown led to the first uttering of “don’t tread on me.” In knowing the true nature of tyranny, the tools to fight oppression were enshrined in the first two amendments of the document that binds the constitutional republic that is the USA.
The First Amendment of the Constitution, protecting freedom of speech and religion, secures the voice of the people against censure or overreach, with a free press guaranteed in America since the Revolution. It’s also the reason the Leaf was able to begin publishing the truth about Cannabis as medicine in 2010, when Cannabis was illegal federally and in every state in the country.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The Second Amendment guarantees the First, by ensuring the people have the right to self-determination via the right to bear arms. This essential right is the only means for a population to protect against tyranny from within, threats from afar and to secure their own home and property.
America is the only country in the world to guarantee these rights explicitly. It is no surprise that we are the only country truly free to speak, to protest and to publish our own opinions. In the U.K. — where firearms are largely banned, social media posts can lead to arrests and air conditioning requires a hard-to-get permit — more people die annually in Europe from heat than from guns in the United States.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
These First and Second Amendment rights are at the heart of what it means to be American. There was no exception, no asterisk, no question of the intention of the words “shall not be infringed.”
For millions of Americans since 1968, this has not been the case. Law-abiding citizens had to choose between using Cannabis and carrying a firearm or risk federal charges for possessing both, regardless of legality in the state. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, we return to the historical intention of the Constitution, that only those whose behavior is dangerous to others should be disarmed. With federal and state background checks in place, mandatory waiting periods and red flag laws, there is a significant safety net to prevent those who should not own firearms from purchasing them.
With this unanimous ruling, Cannabis users are no longer on that list.
