Texas and Marijuana Laws: Let's Take a Look

 

The familiar phrase "they're coming for your guns" may no longer be hyperbole if the U.S. Supreme Court has anything to say about it.

On Monday, the Supreme Court said it would consider whether regular marijuana users can legally own firearms. This comes after the White House asked justices to re-examine a case against a Texas man, Ali Danial Hemani, who was charged with a felony because he allegedly had a gun in his home and acknowledged being a regular pot smoker. SCOTUS typically hears arguments in the fall season and aims to issue decisions by late June or early July, though exact timing is rarely predictable.

"The issue here is whether the federal government can prosecute people for owning firearms while being a user or addicted to a controlled substance," Seth Chandler, attorney and professor at the University of Houston Law Center, explained. "So, it doesn't make any difference whether Texas permits you to own a firearm. The federal government is coming in and saying, 'We don't care that Texas thinks it's fine that you own a firearm. We, the federal government, do not think it's fine that you own a firearm and are therefore going to criminally prosecute you because you are a user of or are addicted to marijuana.'"

Even though Texans' attitudes toward cannabis may have changed, per a recent UH Hobby School Survey, Chandler argues that whether it is fair to go after marijuana users is beside the point. 

"Congress has singled out use of controlled substances as a basis for restricting people's ability to own firearms, and there are a lot of people who think that that is not a very precise measure as to who should be prohibited from owning a firearm," he added. "You may think the law is stupid, but the fact that the law is stupid doesn't mean that it's unconstitutional."

Other legal experts, like criminal defense attorney Maverick Ray admit that Texas' murky marijuana might make it hard to enforce. And the ongoing dispute between Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over THC restrictions hasn't helped.

"We can't even enforce the prosecution of suspected illegal marijuana possession–simple possession," he noted. "We haven't developed scientific testing to properly differentiate THCA, which has been legalized here in Texas and across the United States, versus actual illegal marijuana." 

Ray pointed out as well that targeting marijuana as a "controlled substance" seems like an easy target when there are arguably other substances that should be examined. 

 "It's a little absurd," Ray said. "Common sense tells you there's a whole lot of other substances, even legal ones that cause one's mind to be more violent, to be more out of control that you wouldn't want possessing a firearm. Take, for instance, alcohol. Alcohol is going to go completely unscathed from this whole challenge, because the federal law specifically says alcohol is legal. So since alcohol is not classified as a controlled substance for this statute's purposes, it basically allows you to get as wasted as you want and have a firearm." 

Whichever way the pendulum swings, the Supreme Court's ruling could nonetheless have far-reaching consequences for gun owners nationwide, especially in states where marijuana is legal but still banned federally. A decision is expected sometime next year.