The National Rifle Association (NRA), Independence Institute, and FPC Action Foundation joined the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in the filing of amicus briefs in United States v. Hemani – a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges the federal prohibition of the possession of firearms by anyone who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.”
The brief from the NRA, Independence Institute, and FPC, notes that throughout history, restrictions on discharging firearms by intoxicated persons, along with sales to intoxicated persons, were imposed by U.S. states and territories, but those restrictions ended when the individual was sober. The brief further notes that “Alcohol was ubiquitous in early America” and that “hemp has been cultivated in America since Jamestown.”
The NRA-led brief also takes aim at the brief filed in support of the ban by Smart Approaches to Marijuana that contends cannabis legalization has led to an increase in bullying and that cannabis potency “is greater than before.” The NRA amicus brief points to a study funded by the National Institute of Justice that examined the effects of cannabis legalization on crime in Colorado and Washington which found that cannabis “legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes” in those states, finding “no statistically
