MMJ: Guns and Smoke

Let me get this straight: If I am a medical cannabis user, I can’t legally own a gun? What part of the game is this? -Lil Uzi Verde

The federal part. Sorry, dude. Cannabis is still a Schedule I drug, therefore, any medical cannabis user is an “illegal drug user,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. It is against the law to knowingly sell a gun to someone who uses federally illegal drugs. This is a drag for cannabis-using gun enthusiasts, but no problem for drunks. Booze isn’t illegal. Plus, we all know that drunk people are extremely responsible gun owners.

This is one of those things that can be fixed by removing cannabis from the list of controlled substances. Cannabis users shouldn’t have to give up their constitutional right to bear arms just because they like a little weed. A few years ago, the Oregon State Supreme Court ruled that medical cannabis users had the right to purchase guns and to obtain concealed carry permits, but a new ruling from the Ninth Circuit supersedes the Oregon court’s decision.

The federal government is going to have to come to grips with the fact that cannabis legalization is pretty much unstoppable right now. Federal law is going to have to adjust to the new reality and stop discriminating against law-abiding cannabis users.

How do you handle it when someone packs a bowl of schwag when you’re super used to chronic? Also, I don’t smoke tobacco, so should I say no to the blunt when it gets passed to me? -Ed. T. Kett

Eh, smoke the weed and say thanks. We are very spoiled in California. We forget that most states don’t have cannabis dispensaries and delivery services. If someone offers you some schwag, it probably won’t kill you to take a puff or two. Perhaps you can offer them some of your fantastically delicious cannabis. If you didn’t bring any weed, you can’t really talk any shit.

As to blunts: Don’t give in to peer pressure. If you say something like, “No thanks. I don’t smoke tobacco,” while you pass the blunt to someone else, no one will care. Just because you don’t smoke it, doesn’t mean you can’t touch it. Don’t eff up the rotation.