Much has been made of Joe Biden’s move to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, which would allow doctors to prescribe cannabis without violating federal law, but the fact remains that as of now, possessing cannabis is still a federal crime, even if you live in a state where medical or recreational use is permitted. 

The double standard is awkward for everyone, but for gun owners, it also represents a very real legal threat. Though the feds typically aren’t going after users for simple possession of a small amount of pot, possessing a firearm while an active user of cannabis is also a federal crime, and one that’s prosecuted dozens of times each year. It doesn’t matter if someone has a medical card issued by the state where they live. Those gun owners have to choose between their health and their fundamental right to keep and bear arms. 

It’s unclear whether the current push to reclassify cannabis will even pan out, but while the bureaucracy drags its heels there’s a bipartisan push underway in Kentucky to get Congress involved in an effort to aid gunowners.

“We’re a state with a rich history of firearms,” said Matthew Bratcher, executive director of KY NORML. “Even if you don’t necessarily hunt, you might have an heirloom firearm in the household. That shouldn’t disqualify someone from being a medical cannabis patient.”

State lawmakers reconvened this week for a new legislative session, and are pushing to make a change. 

It’s a bipartisan effort spearheaded by Democratic Louisville Sen. David Yates and Republican Sen. Stephen West. 

The senators proposed a resolution urging Congress to amend the Gun Control Act of 1968 to allow medical marijuana patients to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

A resolution would not change the 57-year-old law as it was passed in Washington, D.C., by Congress and not Kentucky’s General Assembly. However, it would urge federal lawmakers to make the change. 

Though the GOP has a slim majority in the House and Senate, this is something that theoretically should draw support from both sides of the aisle. Medical marijuana is legal in 38 states, so you’d like to think there are at least 76 senators (and a majority of House members) who are open to the idea of allowing their constituents to use cannabis with a doctor’s prescription without having to give up their right to own a gun.

In reality, some congresscritters in medical marijuana states are going to object to Kentucky’s request. They might not approve of medical marijuana, don’t want to do anything to make life easier for gun owners, or both. I happen to think that what Yates and West are proposing is common sense, but I’m sure it will be controversial for a number of House and Senate members. 

The best solution would be to reclassify marijuana entirely, but if that effort gets bogged down in the bureaucracy then amending the Gun Control Act to exempt gun owners who possess a medical marijuana card would be a big step in the right direction. 

The current law is, to put it bluntly, an absolute mess. If my late wife had been sent home on hospice care, she would have been given a prescription for morphine, and she could have used that to mitigate the effects of her late-stage lung cancer without impacting her Second Amendment rights. But if she had obtained a medical marijuana card in the state of Virginia, she wouldn’t have been able to possess a simple gummy to help her appetite or suppress her nausea without risking a federal felony charge, because the federal government would still have considered her an “unlawful” user of drugs. 

Moreover, in some states possessing a medical marijuana card means residents can’t obtain a concealed carry license or even possess a gun in their home, even if they’re prescribed medicine that’s far more potent. That bizarre standard was brought up by advocates for change last year during a hearing on a Maryland bill that would have allowed medical marijuana patients to lawfully possess and carry firearms. 

Testimony during the hearing on Maryland’s bill largely featured veterans and advocates, including Army veteran Randall Cody Floyd, who emphasized the disparity between firearms policies for medical cannabis users and those using prescription opioids. 

Floyd stated, “Basically I chose my medical cannabis card over my gun rights, and I should not have to do that. I can get my carry permit with prescription opioids or painkillers, but for something that I choose that’s a less harmful route, I can’t own a gun. Why is that?”

The Senate approved its own version of that legislation, but in a sign of just how contentious the politics of pot and gun possession is, the Maryland House failed to act on either bill, so gun owners in the state are still forced to choose between medical cannabis or their Second Amendment rights. 

There are a lot of pressing issues for Congress to tackle this year, but hopefully they’ll find the time to act on amending the Gun Control Act to better reflect the status quo across the country… and to give millions of Americans the opportunity to treat their illness (or at least the symptoms) without sacrificing their fundamental civil rights.