Want MMJ? Give Me Your Gun!

I read an article the other day discussing pending legislation regarding Illinois medical marijuana laws. The Illinois Department of Public Health has proposed a rule that would prohibit anyone with a medical marijuana authorization from also having a FOID (Firearm Owners Identification) or a concealed carry permit.

I honestly can’t see the correlation here. Can anyone show me one statistic tying medical marijuana use to increased violence with firearms? Even in the recreational arena, guns tend to accompany cannabis only when there is an illegal black market in which protection and security are survival mechanisms.

To me, this just illustrates the width of the canyon between the reality of medical/recreational cannabis use and the wildly unfounded, fear-based talking-points that politicians bandy about. Do these law makers know anything whatsoever about that which they aim to regulate? This is a non-issue! In a country where you can have a criminal history, documented mental problems, a pattern of violence and still carry a gun, what possible rationale do they have for suggesting this inane rule against cannabis?

For the billionth time, weed is not crack or meth. No one gets high and doesn’t realize they are about to shoot a gun. That is just not how cannabis manifests. Where are all the rules saying that if you’re convicted of a DUI you can’t own a gun? What about getting arrested for domestic violence or neglecting your children? Nope, no rules affecting your rights to gun ownership.

That second amendment is more sacred to many of our citizens than God, it is a constitutional right. I don’t like guns. I don’t own guns. But I do think it is the right of responsible people to own them, if they so choose. Bearing arms is a fundamental piece of American culture. But so is the pursuit of happiness, which to me means the right to be as healthy as you can be. It is nearly comical that, of all the things that won’t take your guns from you, cannabis is something that might. This makes as much sense as losing your drivers license for being gay.

Does anyone else get the feeling that as cannabis (both medical and recreational) gains more favor in our public perception, there are some out there that got their pants all twisted up about it and just want some kind of retribution? You want access to cannabis to help your cancer pain? Ok, give me your legal firearms. Why? Well, you can’t just get something for nothing!

Weed has been a part of our culture for decades, the only difference is that we are finally starting to look at it intelligently. I hope that the Illinois congress votes down this stupidity. The last thing we need is some skewed statistic coming out in a few years claiming a false positive-correlation between medical marijuana patients and gun deaths.