A doctor who takes medical marijuana sues for the right to own a gun
Published on 11/14/18
A medical marijuana patient in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who is also a doctor filed a lawsuit this week after being denied the purchase of a gun. Mathew Roman was interested in a Smith & Wesson revolver and during the transaction the gun store owner asked if he used cannabis, to which Mathew answered truthfully and was then denied. In 1968 lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting anyone who used cannabis from owning a firearm. The new lawsuit being filed claims that the second amendment right of medical marijuana patients allover the country is being infringed upon due to medical marijuana programs being state local programs and therefore do not make patients unlawful users of cannabis. Medical and recreational cannabis consumers and business owners are also known to carry cash due to marijuana businesses being denied bank accounts, and without being allowed to protect themselves with a firearm it can leave them vulnerable.
"Pennsylvania statute defines an unlawful user as someone who does it without a recommendation from a doctor," Weston said. "Under state law, it seems to us that a medical marijuana patient with a state-issued card is not an unlawful user of a controlled substance. That statute should not apply at all."