DPA Blasts Gun Discrimination Against Marijuana Patients

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The Narco News Bulletin
Ethan Nadelmann, DPA: “ATF’s blatant discrimination against Americans who use marijuana legally under state law is outrageous”

​Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Says Medical Marijuana Patients Are Prohibited From Owning Guns
Last month the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a letter to gun sellers saying it is illegal for medical marijuana patients to own firearms.
“Any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her state has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition,” says the letter from Assistant Director Arthur Herbert.
“ATF’s blatant discrimination against Americans who use marijuana legally under state law is outrageous,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).

“It’s not just that ATF is riding roughshod over the rights of citizens who use marijuana legally with a doctors’ recommendation and thumbing its nose at laws enacted by 16 states,” Nadelmann said. “It’s that there’s absolutely no evidence whatsoever that use of marijuana — whether for medical purposes of otherwise — is linked to reckless use of guns.
“President Obama made clear, both before and after he was elected, his opposition to aggressive federal interference against medical marijuana patients in states that had legalized marijuana for medical purposes,” Nadelmann said. “ATF’s new letter contradicts and undermines Barack Obama’s commitment — while presenting no evidence or rationale for that directive.
“There should be zero tolerance for this sort of discrimination by the federal government,” Nadelmann said.
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