Florida Ag Commissioner Appeals Dismissal Of Medical Marijuana Patients’ Gun Rights Lawsuit
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A federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit from Florida’s agriculture commissioner that challenges a ban on medical marijuana patients’ rights to buy and possess firearms—but the state official isn’t ready to give up the case just yet. Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) and her patient co-plaintiffs appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday. “As I said when I filed this lawsuit, no patient should have to choose between their medicine and employment, or a roof over their head, or access to capital—or any of their constitutional rights,” Fried said in a press release. The case centers on the argument that the federal firearms ban for cannabis patients is unconstitutional. Our appeal today is an important step in the fight to make sure no patient has to choose between their rights and their medicine. — Commissioner Nikki Fried (@NikkiFriedFL) November 17, 2022 While Fried expressed optimism following oral arguments in a hearing on the Biden administration’s motion to dismiss, citing her legal team’s “compelling” performance, a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida judge ultimately disagreed, saying in a 22-page opinion earlier this month that the plaintiffs “have standing but that their claims fail on the merits.” The gist of the Judge Allen Winsor’s ruling was that he sided with the Justice Department’s arguments that people who use marijuana, regardless of state law, are engaging in criminal activity at the federal level. And, therefore, there’s precedent to deny them the right to have firearms. The judge recognized that there’s a congressional rider in place that prevents DOJ from using its funds to interfere in state medical cannabis programs. But it described the policy with specific parentheticals, saying “Congress has precluded the Department of Justice (for now) from prosecuting crimes that Congress (for now)…
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