A dang good reason not to sign up for Medcial Marijuana ... ever, anywhere

https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/surrender-your-guns-police-tell-hawaiian-medical-marijuana-patients wrote:The Honolulu Police Department has sent letters to local medical marijuana patients ordering them to “voluntarily surrender” their firearms because of their MMJ status.

The letters, signed by Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, inform patients that they have 30 days upon receipt of the letter to transfer ownership or turn in their firearms and ammunition to the Honolulu Police.

The existence of the notices, first reported early today by Russ Belville at The Marijuana Agenda podcast, was confirmed to Leafly News this afternoon by the Honolulu Police Department.

The startling order comes just three months after the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Hawaii’s capital city.

Here is the full text of one of the letters:



The clash between state marijuana laws and federal firearms law—which prohibits all cannabis patients and consumers from purchasing firearms—is a growing point of legal contention in the 29 states with medical marijuana laws.

The Honolulu letters, however, may represent the first time a law enforcement agency has proactively sought out state-registered medical marijuana patients and ordered them to surrender their guns.

Federal law clearly prohibits anyone who consumes cannabis—for any reason, and regardless of state legality—from purchasing a firearm. On the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) Form 1140-0020, which must be completed by firearm purchasers, applicants are asked if they are “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance.”

In case it’s unclear to the applicant, the ATF includes this warning in bold type:
Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.

Many state laws allow patients to medicate with cannabis, but the federal prohibition on cannabis consumption crosses that legality when it comes to firearms. The supremacy of federal law on this point was upheld last year by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

“It may be argued that medical marijuana users are less likely to commit violent crimes, as they often suffer from debilitating illnesses, for which marijuana may be an effective palliative,” the federal ruling stated. “But those hypotheses are not sufficient to overcome Congress’s reasonable conclusion that the use of such drugs raises the risk of irrational or unpredictable behavior with which gun use should not be associated.”

State Law Applies
The Honolulu Police Department cites state law, not federal law, as the basis for the order. “Under the provisions of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, Section 134-7(a), you are disqualified from firearms ownership,” says the letter.
Curiously, HRS 134-7(a) makes no specific mention of a person’s medical marijuana status. It’s a blanket statement about federal law:
134-7(a) No person who is a fugitive from justice or is a person prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law shall own, possess, or control any firearm or ammunition therefor.

Until now, the clash between firearm ownership and patient status has been largely avoided through a de facto “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Firearms purchasers are forced to either lie on the ATF form (a federal offense), or tell themselves they’re technically honest—the ATF form asks, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana,” and those who quit cannabis yesterday technically were but no longer are unlawful users of marijuana.

A number of states issue medical cannabis patient cards or authorizations but do not keep a searchable database of patient names. In some medical cannabis states, like Arizona, firearm purchasers are not required to register with the state.

Hawaii, though, maintains an electronic database of both firearm purchasers, who must complete both the federal ATF and a state permit application, and medical marijuana patients. That allowed the Honolulu police to cross-check and compile a list of MMJ patients in the state’s firearms registry.

2seaoat wrote: ....   My bone mets are hardly noticeable.

PkrBum wrote:Fricking nazis

PkrBum wrote:I like all of that... good post.

2seaoat wrote: It has no impact on my cognitive functions...

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/01/medical_marijuana_patients_mus.html wrote:As Pennsylvania prepares for a 2018 launch of its medical marijuana program, conflicts between the state law and federal regulations has raised one more thorny issue: whether people using medical marijuana can buy a gun.

The short answer is: They can't.

Because federal law does not recognize individual states' medical marijuana programs, people enrolled in those programs are, from a federal perspective "an 'unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance'; and, therefore, prohibited by federal law from the purchase or acquisition, possession or control of a firearm," according to the Pennsylvania State Police.

In fact, the firearms transaction form that buyers are required to complete specifies  that "the use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside."  

Further, the state police have said, the federal prohibition also means that registered patients forfeit their ability to possess, apply for, or renew a state license to carry firearms and makes it "unlawful for you to keep possession of any firearms which you owned or had in your possession prior to obtaining a Medical Marijuana Card."  ....

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/01/medical_marijuana_patients_mus.html wrote:....  The good news for gun owners in Pennsylvania who are enrolled in the medical marijuana program is that while they won't be able to purchase new firearms, it is unlikely that the state will begin a program to confiscate existing firearms. The Pennsylvania State Police are not considering enacting a program requiring people to turn in existing firearms or ordering them to do so. Nor has this occurred in other states with similar programs, Fox said.

2seaoat wrote:I have had pet scans, but when locating bone mets with endocrine cancer they use octreotide scans which light up endocrine tumors.

EmeraldGhost wrote:.....
For Chrisakes .... it's just a plant that gets people mildly intoxicated for a few hours, and to which one can't overdose and can't become physically addicted. If States are gonna legalize it I wish they'd just do it without all the regulatory hullabaloo.  I really think people should be able to sell it at stands by the side of the road like they do tomatoes ... so long as they are licensed, collect a reasonable State sales tax, and don't sell to under 18.    I think it would be interesting to see some State government structure their regulations to keep it small scale by limiting each licensee to growing/selling say ... 50 pounds a year max.   Make violation of sales tax, over-21, or production limits result in permanent lifetime revocation of license.  That way regular people could supplement their income by having a small grow on the side ... or even run a small business that could support a family.  Yet nobody would be getting filthy rich off of it either. They could promote such legislation as being good for small family businesses and family farms.    That's what I'd do "if I were king of the forest!"