Smoke medical pot, lose your Second Amendment gun rights?

[Yuppicide]

I found this article interesting:


SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The right of Oregonians to use marijuana for medical reasons and also to obtain concealed handgun permits is being challenged by local sheriffs who say federal law prevents those people from packing heat.

Advocates for the state's medical marijuana law countered Wednesday in the Oregon Court of Appeals that the sheriffs simply don't like the program and are looking for ways to undermine it.

Both sides now are looking to the courts to say definitively whether there's anything to prevent Oregon from issuing the concealed handgun permits to users of medicinal pot.

The head of the national marijuana advocacy group NORML said he's not aware of the issue being raised in the 13 other states that allow medicinal use of pot.

"It's kind of unique to Oregon that a couple of sheriffs there seem to want to defer to federal law when they really ought to be looking at enforcing state laws," Allen St. Pierre, NORML's executive director, said in an interview from Washington, D.C.

He also noted that the Obama administration in recent weeks has signaled that federal prosecutors will not go after people in those states who use medical marijuana legally.

"The administration is going to defer to local and state governments on these issues," he said.

Sheriffs from Washington and Jackson counties say, though, that they want clarification from the court on whether federal gun laws prohibiting illegal drug users from possessing handguns applies to people who have permits to use marijuana for medical reasons. Marijuana is still classified as a controlled substance under federal law, they said.

Lower courts had twice ordered the two sheriffs to give weapons permits to people who had lost them because they are medical marijuana users, and both appealed those rulings.

Attorney Elmer Dickens, representing Washington County Sheriff Rob Gordon, said the sheriff thinks he's in an untenable position.

"We don't think it's appropriate for the sheriff to be issuing a license to carry something that the federal government has said they are not even entitled to possess," Dickens said in court argumments.

A Portland lawyer for the advocates argued in court Wednesday that federal law doesn't trump Oregon's concealed handgun permit law.

Medical marijuana users who meet all other criteria cannot be deprived of the right to a concealed handgun permit, said Leland Berger, who helped write Oregon's medical marijuana law.

"What this is about is that the sheriffs don't like the medical marijuana law. Twelve years after it was approved by voters, the sheriffs want to discriminate against patients," he said.

Steven Schwerdt said he had a concealed handgun permit for six years before the Washington county sheriff's office revoked it when he became a medical marijuana user.

"I'm no criminal; I'm just a guy who can't physically run away from dangerous situations," said Schwerdt, who uses medical marijuana to relieve the symptoms of severe arthritis and gout.

Schwerdt got his gun permit back in May 2008 when a lower court judge overruled the sheriff's office on grounds that there was no legitimate reason to deny him one.


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[ChipperXD]

that's a steaming pile of BS right there. I don't see how medical mj is any different than prescription pain killers. as long as they are not carrying when they are intoxicated, they would be fine, just like alcohol.

[sourpatch45]

well in most states you cant carry a gun while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance like pot or pain killers or benzos

should people that are all hopped up on pills be carrying a gun? and how is that different from drinking? i understand pot isnt as bad as drinking and i think they should legalize pot but i dont think you should carry if your high

when you buy a gun it says are you an unlawful user or ADDICTED to a controlled substance. and a person that smokes pot everyday would fall under addiction in some peoples books


AND THIS BIG ONE
smoking pot is illegal on the federal level so if they issue permits they are giving them to a person who is breaking a federal drug law. now once again i think it should be up to the states about their pot laws but as it stands now the feds consider it an illegal drug and issuing CCW permeits to people that use an illegal drug as defined by the federal government could get the people that issued them in trouble since they knew this person was breaking a federal law but still issued the permit

im not saying its right at all but i am saying that under the current federal laws I would hesitate to issue a CCW to them without clarification from the feds that i wouldnt be breaking any laws by doing so. and i like i said i dont think the feds should have that power but as it is NOW they do

[FrankC]

Oh noes! We can't quit the war on drugs now! Where would we get all these tax dollars to waste?

All this interfering with medical marijuana is just stupid, people who don't like it need to go soak their head for a while instead of looking for loopholes to screw people with.

[AZXD]

So typical !!!
Commit to an Action, Create a New Law ... Then let the courts decide whether it is Constitutional

The system gets more flawed, everyday.

[Gunner69]

Well since Oregon is an open carry state I don't see how this infringes on their 2nd Amendment rights. They can keep them, they can bear them. End of story unless you see a clause in there that specifies bearing them concealed. And for the record Oregon doesn't have any laws on the books currently specifiying you can't carry while intoxicated etc. like most states. But since these people brought this suit there have been serious rumblings that they are in fact going to start the process of putting those laws in the book.. WTG potheads. Thanks for trying to screw it up for everybody else.

[Mercmar]

Originally Posted by ChipperXD

that's a steaming pile of BS right there. I don't see how medical mj is any different than prescription pain killers. as long as they are not carrying when they are intoxicated, they would be fine, just like alcohol.

The main difference is that 99.99999% of "medical marijuana" users are just potheads living in sissy states that condone such behavior. The only folks ever disenchanted with making drugs illegal are druggies.

[Cannibul]

Originally Posted by ChipperXD

that's a steaming pile of BS right there. I don't see how medical mj is any different than prescription pain killers. as long as they are not carrying when they are intoxicated, they would be fine, just like alcohol.

You can't?

Well let's list them

Prescription meds.

1. You have a prescription that specifies dosage level, how often to take.
2. The prescription is normally for a set number of refills.


Medical marijuana.

1. There is no prescription. There is no control on the strength of the dose. There is no set amount to smoke every day.
2. Smoke as much as you want.



Medical Marijuana is nothing more than a smoke screen used by those who want legal dope.

It's so bad right now in Oregon that here in Portland I have ONE place in town I can go into and sit in a chair and smoke a cigar in public. There are TWO places I can go sit in a chair and smoke dope in public.

One local town just passed a law that makes it illegal to use tobacco in the public parks. That includes ALL forms of tobacco. I'm betting that if I had a Medical marijuana card I would be able to get away with smoking dope in the park.

[VaGunNut]

Originally Posted by Mercmar

The main difference is that 99.99999% of "medical marijuana" users are just potheads living in sissy states that condone such behavior. The only folks ever disenchanted with making drugs illegal are druggies.

BULL! I don't use any drugs including alcohol but I see the "War on Drugs" as worse than useless. It has filled our prisons and brought on huge violent crime problems as result of making it illegal and expensive to obtain.

Just as prohibition didn't work neither does the WOD!

While I am sure there are many who abuse the medical MJ there are also some who studies have shown benefit from it's use. MS patients for one.

What gives anyone the right to determine how anyone else enjoys their "right to happiness"? Now if your talking about intoxicated operation of a motor vehicle for instance, that is another matter and is already covered by statue.

[HTOWN stunna]

just because its a law does not mean that people will follow it. thats why felons have guns now right?