Marijuana and Drug Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Monday in a case testing the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(3), the federal law that bars "unlawful users" of controlled substances — including people who regularly use marijuana in states where it is legal — from possessing firearms. The Biden‑era 5th Circuit struck down the statute as applied to Texas defendant Ali Danial Hemani, ruling that only people who are actually intoxicated while armed can be criminally charged, prompting the Trump Justice Department to seek reversal under the Court’s 2022 Bruen history‑and‑tradition test. In a rare alliance, the NRA and ACLU are jointly arguing that the law violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague about what counts as a "user," warning it could give federal prosecutors a "blank check" against millions of Americans in legal‑cannabis states. The administration, backed by gun‑control group Everytown for Gun Safety, counters that habitual illegal drug users with guns pose "unique dangers" and that disarming them is consistent with historical restrictions on armed "habitual drunkards" and other dangerous categories. Because cannabis remains illegal under federal law even as it is permitted for medical or recreational use in most states, the eventual ruling will determine whether regular marijuana use can automatically cost someone their gun rights nationwide — an issue already driving intense online debate among both gun‑rights and legalization advocates. The decision could also affect prosecutions involving other illegal drugs, potentially broadening or narrowing who the government may disarm based on substance use.