Medical Cannabis Patients advocate for Second Amendment Rights

In Minnesota, there are strange bedfellows, and then there is the political coalition currently being forged. It's a convergence of Second Amendment champions and marijuana advocates in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, with the two sides coming together to push for medical cannabis patients to be allowed to own guns. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, some "gun rights advocates and pro-legalization groups, as well as lawmakers, are campaigning during the special session to have the Minnesota Department of Health petition the federal government to remove marijuana from List I for patients in the medical program exempt, which means the government recognizes that it has medicinal qualities. " The reason patients are not allowed to purchase a firearm in Minnesota is because of the federal government's longstanding ban on marijuana, a discrepancy that has brought all kinds of frustrations and roadblocks to states and cities that use weed for either medical use or legalized for recreational use. The Minnesota Health Department has the breakdown: "Cannabis is a List I controlled substance under federal law. Federal law prohibits anyone using an" illegal "substance, including medicinal cannabis, from acquiring a firearm. In 2011, the US state declared -Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATFE) that medical cannabis users are not entitled to exercise their right to carry weapons because the federal government bans cannabis. Citing cannabis' controlled substance status under Schedule I of federal law, the agency said, "There are no exceptions in federal law for marijuana purportedly used for medicinal purposes, even if such use is sanctioned by state law. The Department of Health of Minnesota does not regulate the possession or purchase of firearms and so cannot say how the federal ban will be enforced. Questions specific to these state firearms restrictions should be directed to your attorney or law enforcement agency. " Of course, there could be major changes at the federal level. Late last month the MORE Act was passed in the US House of Representatives, a law aimed at "decriminalizing and delimiting cannabis, reinvestment in certain people harmed by the war on drugs, eradication." for certain cannabis offenses and for other purposes ". The bill has serious momentum on Capitol Hill, where the Democrats control the Houses of Congress and party leaders seem motivated to end Prohibition. In April, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats are ready to press ahead with legalizing marijuana, even if President Joe Biden - who has resisted full legalization so far - is not quite on board. “We'll go forward,” Schumer then said. "\[Biden\] said he's studying the subject, so obviously want to give him a little time to study. I want to put my arguments in front of him, like many other proponents will. But at some point we'll move on, period. " But proponents in Minnesota could make some history of their own. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune said: "If their efforts are successful, Minnesota would be the first of 36 states to approve any form of medical marijuana to appeal directly to the federal government on behalf of its notifiers, a number that is likely to be three to four Times to expand in the next few years with the addition of the dried flower for adults. "