For decades, the war on drugs was the perfect excuse to shred the Bill of Rights. Judges looked the other way. They carved out a “drug exception” to basic liberties. But last week, the Supreme Court finally drew a line in the sand. In a rare unanimous decision, the justices ruled that smoking weed does not strip you of your Second Amendment rights. Turns out, the Constitution still applies when you’re high.
The case centers on a deeply stupid federal law. Under current statutes, any “unlawful user” of a controlled substance who possesses a gun faces up to 15 years in prison. It is a felony. It is also completely out of step with American history. Enter Ali Hemani. The Texas man owned a pistol and smoked pot a few times a week. That was enough to make him a federal felon. A federal judge threw the charges out. The conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.
Then came the politics. The Trump administration, always eager to pander to gun owners, suddenly forgot its love for the Second Amendment. They begged the Supreme Court to reinstate the charges. The hypocrisy was staggering. Even weirder? Eighteen blue states that have legalized recreational marijuana joined the Trump administration’s crusade. They hated guns more than they loved legal weed.
This created a bizarre coalition of defenders. The NRA and libertarian groups found themselves on the same side as the Drug Policy Alliance and criminal defense lawyers. Even the ACLU, which historically scoffed at individual gun rights, signed on to help Hemani. When the ACLU and the NRA agree, you know the government screwed up.
The government’s defense was pathetic. Prosecutors tried to compare cannabis users to historical “habitual drunkards” who were locked up in the 19th century. The justices didn’t buy it. Writing for the Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch tore the analogy to shreds. He noted the old laws targeted different people, for different reasons, in different ways. It wasn’t even close.
The ruling isn’t a total free-for-all. The feds can still prosecute gun-owning drug users if they actually pose a violent threat. But they can’t lock you up just for having a joint and a Glock. This matters. Roughly 20 million American pot smokers also own firearms. Most will never see a courtroom, but the law hung over them like a guillotine. Now, that blade is blunt. It is a small victory against a bloated, hypocritical system.
