SCOTUS to Rule on Cannabis Consumers' Gun Rights and Restrictions

The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has announced that they are going to hear arguments from the Justice Department on a case that may determine if cannabis consumers are able to legally possess guns (1,2). The Justice Department has previously moved to appeal a 5^th US Circuit Court of Appeals decision which deemed the blanket ban as being “unconstitutional.”

According to AP News, President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court justices to bring a case back where a man in Texas was charged with a felony due to possessing a firearm in his residence, while also expressing that he was a “regular” cannabis user (2). A lower court had made a ruling expressing that drug users should not be banned from owning guns. This ruling was later appealed by the Justice Department. The Trump administration has asked for the Supreme Court to reinstate a case that was brought against Ali Danial Hemani. AP News reported that, “His lawyers got the felony charge tossed out after the 5^th US Circuit Court of Appeals found that the blanket ban is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s expanded view of gun rights. The appellate judges found it could still be used against people accused of being high and armed at the same time,” (2).

A 1968 federal law bans the possession or purchase of a firearm to an “‘unlawful user’ of a federally controlled substance should be applied broadly to criminalize gun owners with any history of marijuana use,” (1). In September 2025, a US 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that patients that are in possession of medical cannabis and are in compliance with state laws, are not applicable under the federal ban (1). Former Florida Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried, along with other medical cannabis patients, brought this case to the attention of the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals judges.

Former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was convicted of violating the 1968 legislation in 2024 (2). President Biden at a later time pardoned him.

Members of the NORML Legal Committee which includes attorneys David Holland, Nikki Fried, Greg Morse, and Joseph Bondy, said in an amicus brief regarding the case (1,3), “Neither the Founders, Framers, nor elected leaders of the United States, all of whom had intimate knowledge of the role of cannabis cultivation and consumption in the colonies and new nation, took any legislative action to disarm cannabis consumers of the right to bear arms.”

Fried said that the ruling was “a huge win for freedom. No medical cannabis patient should have to choose between their rights to their medicine or their right to bear arms,” (3).

Joseph A. Bondy, Chair of NORML’s Board of Directors, added (3), “This is a substantial win for patients and constitutional rights. This ruling makes plain what NORML has long argued: medical cannabis patients should not be treated as second-class citizens under the law.”

A 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling found that preventing US citizens from possessing or purchasing a gun primarily due to the individual possessing or consuming cannabis is not “consistent with this nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation,” (3).

“Neither past nor current cannabis use should automatically preclude someone from legal protections explicitly provided by the US Constitution,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano expressed (3). “Either the Supreme Court or Congress need to ultimately resolve this issue so that responsible cannabis consumers are no longer threatened with federal prison terms simply for exercising their 2nd Amendment rights.”

The Supreme Court case is anticipated to begin sometime in early 2026 and could have a formal decision announced by early summer 2026.

References

1. Norml. Supreme Court to decide on federal gun ban for cannabis consumers https://norml.org/blog/2025/10/20/supreme-court-to-decide-whether-federal-gun-ban-applies-to-cannabis-consumers/ (accessed Oct 20, 2025).
2. Whitehurst, L. Supreme Court will consider whether people who regularly smoke pot can legally own guns https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-marijuana-guns-e86c342bf248c7822722ad027980b72b (accessed Oct 20, 2025).
3. Norml. Federal Court Rules Medical Cannabis Consumers shouldn’t lose their 2nd amendment rights https://norml.org/blog/2025/08/21/federal-appeals-court-medical-cannabis-consumers-shouldnt-lose-their-2nd-amendment-rights/ (accessed Oct 20, 2025).