Gents,
Technically, use of marijuana is not against federal law, as there is no federal law that prohibits use. Federal law covers possession, sales, transportation, etc. Now...one would logically infer to use, one would have to possess. Maybe not. Here in the people's republic, use of a controlled substance...take meth for example...is a misdemeanor (trouble), while possession is a felony (bigger trouble). In this case, our logical inference doesn't hold up. If it did, use would be a felony. To possess, you must have physical possession of a manipulative amount of the drug. By the way...the minimum weight/quantity of marijuana for a federal filing? 100 kilos or 100 plants.
As far as addicted to marijuana, I don't know that it has ever been proven to be addictive. And "are you addicted to" is kind of a subjective question. Good luck proving that. Lots of drug addicts and alcoholics out there that aren't addicted. Just ask them.
If you live in a state where marijuana use is legal, and you use it in accordance with the law, it's not unlawful.
Justin
TRA
"NUTS" A truck driver was taking the chance of federal drug possession, if it was prescribed by his doctor and was in the truck drivers truck. NEVER LISTEN TO THOSE THAT SAY THEY CAN"T BUST YOU.
Like Jackie said...the fed trumps the state.............unless..... the state wants to trump the fed. Almost all drug and firearms laws are trumped both ways.
In truth, what FEDERAL gun ownership restrictions have been imposed on the shooting public over the last 8 years????????????? Most can do today things that were only a dream 8-10 years ago.
There's a whole lot of speculators who lost 10's of millions trying to monopolize the ohio pot distribution. Now the state is going to do it and make it available to any vendor who wants it.
Gents,
OK...my bona-fides first. I'm rapidly approaching my 27th year as a deputy sheriff, most of which has been spent in drug/gang units, to include my present assignment for the past 10 years working a federal drug and gang task force with a very large federal agency. As a deputy sheriff, I am able to enforce state law, and as a special federal officer, I am able to enforce federal law. As such, I've done both, and spent quite a bit of time in and around both legal systems and have a pretty good idea of how they work, what will fly, what won't fly, etc. The above experience is what I based my opinion on.
My opinion, if you live in a state where it is legal to smoke marijuana and you partake in accordance to that particular state's law, you can, legally and with a clear conscience, check the "No" box on question 11e. My reasoning is detailed above. "Semantics" one might say, but the legal system is full of semantics. How may times have you heard "Got off on a technicality". A lot of those technicalities are trivial, semantic nonsense. Further, speaking from my experience in the Central District of California, if I took a case in which I alleged that a subject lied on his 4473 because he smoked weed as allowed in the state, and checked "No" on question 11e, the Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) I tried to get to prosecute the case would throw me out of his office. Right on my head. And if, by chance, I got an AUSA to file such a case, the judge would throw both of us out of his courtroom. Right on our heads.
Prosecutors...especially those of the federal ilk...want, pardon the pun, "smoking gun" cases. A prosecution such as that above, in my opinion, is not one of those.
But I've been wrong before, so I made some calls. The first was to my brother, he too a police officer (Irish Welfare Program) of some 12 years, with a master's degree in criminal justice. He shared the same opinion as I.
One of my co-workers? Same thing.
Next, I called an AUSA I've worked with and presented the question to him. He said as worded, in the context of our discussion, 11e was "ambiguous", and my opinion had merit and was "defensible". He also said he would throw me out of his office if I brought him such a case. Right on my head. Other things he said of note was that there is no federal statute for use/under the influence of a controlled substance...and remember, 11e is worded "unlawful user", and that if a federal probationer/parolee fails a drug test, they will "allege" possession during the violation hearing. Technically, they could "allege" possession in our scenario, but see above comment about getting thrown out of his office. Also, there is an edict...at least in these parts...that the AUSA's office will not file on medical marijuana possession cases. The feds aren't too wound up about personal use marijuana. He did say, and I would agree, that 11e needs to be clarified in re: our scenario.
Last but not least, I called an ATF agent I know. He said the ATF's opinion on this was that "use" and "addiction" were the same thing, i.e., if you used, you were addicted, so despite the fact that it maybe legal in your state and you only smoke once a month, in the ATF's eyes, you were addicted. When I started laughing uncontrollably, he said, "I know. Try proving THAT in court". He agreed that there was a snowball's chance in hell of getting such a case filed.
I do know, given our original question, that if you answer yes, you will not be getting your gun.
TRA,
In re: your advice..."NUTS" A truck driver was taking the chance of federal drug possession, if it was prescribed by his doctor and was in the truck drivers truck. NEVER LISTEN TO THOSE THAT SAY THEY CAN"T BUST YOU", I'll refer you to a quote by Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president. He said...
..."Don't believe everything you read on the internet".
And gents...that is what I know.
Justin