The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled unanimously that cannabis consumers can legally possess firearms under the Second Amendment.
The ruling stems from United States v. Hemani, in which prosecutors pursued criminal charges against Texas man Ali Hemani, who confessed to regularly consuming cannabis while in possession of a firearm.
In their reasoning, the justices referenced a 2022 Supreme Court decision that requires gun restrictions to be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) submitted amicus filings for the case early this year.
Joseph A. Bondy, Board Chair for NORML and the organization’s co-counsel of record for its amicus filing, called the decision “a measured but important vindication of personal freedom and constitutional principle.”
“The Court recognized what NORML urged: that responsible adults do not forfeit their Second Amendment rights merely because they consume cannabis, absent any individualized showing of dangerousness. Our Constitution protects people, not stereotypes, and it does not permit the government to convert cannabis use alone into a categorical mark of civic unworthiness.” — Bondy, in a statement
