What's your take on "Medical Marijuana Users Fight for Gun Rights"

[okie]

Medical Marijuana Users Fight for Gun Rights

[Psyk00diver]

I have one question, does Marijuana impare judgement? I'm sorry but there are other legal drugs that keep you from getting a permit, but you don't hear those people whinning about it! i'm sick of hearing about weed rights. It is my opinion that if you need Marijuana for medical reasons you are on your death bed, and don't need to be out in public toting a gun! not to mention I have seen people get med cards that don't need one. Why would a doctor perscribe a depresant for depression? I know someone that has a card for that reason. Like I said I feel that Marijuana is a last resort drug.

[nogods]

The sheriffs argue that the 1968 U.S. Gun Control Act prohibits selling firearms to drug addicts, and they say that includes medical marijuana card holders. Their briefs state that they cannot give a permit to carry a gun to someone prohibited from buying or owning a gun.

Isn't nicotine a drug?

I'll bet there are more places in Oregon where Cynthia Willis can't legally smoke a cigarette than there are places where she can't legally eat a mary jane cookie

So what are the big bad sheriffs doing about nicotine addicts and their guns?

[S&W645]

Isn't nicotine a drug?

I'll bet there are more places in Oregon where Cynthia Willis can't legally smoke a cigarette than there are places where she can't legally eat a mary jane cookie

So what are the big bad sheriffs doing about nicotine addicts and their guns?

Nicotine is a legal drug found in smokes. Tobacco is legal, MJ is not under US laws. Solution is to abolish BATFE. That solves several problems at one time.

[snatale42]

Ahhhhh, So everybody with a prescription is a drug addict? Theres a LOT of drugs that are WAY more illegal than weed (without script) that don't stop you from carrying guns. If that Sheriff wanted to play doctor he should have went to medical school instead of police academy. He can keep on enforcing the law, at let the people with medical degrees decide who the drug addicts are.

[Felix]

I wouldn't have a problem with just letting people maintain modest amounts for personal/recreational use and quit using LE resources to fight an un-winnable battle. I don't see marijuana use as being all that much different than booze during the Prohibition era. And we know how that turned out. This one may take another generation til the folks my age die off but it'll eventually happen when the votes are there.

[Bighouse Doc]

Potheads and guns is just like drunks and guns!

-Doc

[Psyk00diver]

Ok does Marijuana impare judgment? If your are on medication for being bi-polar you can not own, or use a gun. You don't hear the those americans bitching like little school girls on the playground yard about how their rights are being trampled! Not to mention that medical marijuana cards are just to easy to get. I know someone that has gotten onefor depression! What the hell, giving a person a depresant for depression? In my opinion that is like giveing an alcholic a shot of jack to stop the DT shakes! On the other hand it seams to me that everyone now adays thinks that if the laws says that they cant do what they want to do, it violates their rights!

[thedub88]

Potheads and guns is just like drunks and guns!

-Doc

Yah!!!! sober while they carry!!

[Doc Mustang]

I believe that simply posessing a medical marijuana card should not be enough to pull someones carry permit. However, I do feel that there are certain drugs like alcohol, narcotics, and marijuana which if overindulged in can impair judgement to the point that carrying a firearm becomes a bad idea.

The libertarian in me says that carrying under the influence should not necessarily be a crime in an of itself. But I would not be opposed to adding it as a lesser included offense for someone who actually shot somebody under the influence.

One problem is that there simply is no legal standard. The legal limit for THC in the blood is zero. Similarly If you are found with opiates in your blood without a prescription the legal limit is zero. There is simply no legal structure or laboratory testing for levels of intoxication with substances other than alcohol. Common laboratory tests measure presence but not the amount of drug metabolites. Even if the amount could be measured the results would have limited meaning without knowing patient weight, metabolism etc.

Even in the case of alcohol blood levels only tell part of the story. I have treated patients with alcohol levels that would KILL me who are walking around talking and seem relatively sober. I have treated patients for DT's who were still well beyond the legal limit for intoxication.

As a result of this, I am SURE that any prosecuting attorney who found that a concealed carry permit holder was on any psychoactive medication may be likely to press charges. Equally I am sure that carrying under the influence would have plaintiff's attorneys foaming at the mouth to sue.

Does this apply to legal psychoactive medications? Possibly, if you were taking anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics or stimulants (like Ritalin, or Adderall which are amphetamines) Those are sure to be factors in any criminal or civil case.

However, simply taking those medications is not, in many states, a legal reason to deny or revoke a concealed carry permit. It should be remembered that "mental illness" and "insanity" are two separate concepts, the former is a medical term and the latter purely a legal concept. One can be voluntarily undergoing treatment for mental illness and not be legally prohibited from owning or even carrying a firearm. Only when a court gets involved and mandates treatment do gun rights become an issue.