[mrm1109]

Michigan's medical-marijuana users can't catch a break.

Three major state appeals court decisions have gone against them in the last month. Now, federal authorities have issued an order that licensed medical-marijuana users nationwide can't possess a gun.

That means no hunting, no target shooting, no gun collecting and no guns for personal protection -- even by patients who legally cultivate marijuana crops -- according to a Sept. 21 directive to prosecutors nationwide from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The ban is an insult to Michigan's medical-marijuana community, said Rick Thompson, editor of the Chesterfield Township-based Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine.

The magazine is sending a letter to the National Rifle Association "to inform them of their potential loss of membership in 17 medical-marijuana states," including Michigan, and to enlist the NRA's help in fighting the ban, Thompson said.

"A lot of people who hunt are very upset," he said Friday.

But medical-marijuana user William Lisowski, 60, a retired Detroit police officer who lives in Sterling Heights, said guns don't belong around marijuana.

"When you mix the two, you're asking for trouble," Lisowski said.

Restrictions on medical pot grow
Michigan's medical-marijuana users can be evicted from their apartments at any time under a recent opinion by the state attorney general.

A host of other state restrictions are in place or looming for Michiganders who carry state-issued cards to use cannabis for health reasons.

And this week, a federal firearms memo surfaced that says medical-marijuana users fall under nationwide rules against gun ownership by drug abusers.

The tightening restrictions by law enforcement authorities aims "to stop the wave of acceptance of medical marijuana," Detroit defense attorney and registered patient Matt Abel said Friday.

"And that's a fool's errand because there is no going back," he said. "A lot of the population knows now that marijuana works" to alleviate pain and many medical conditions.

The ban on gun use by medical-marijuana patients nationwide came in a U.S. Department of Justice letter sent Sept. 21 to state and county prosecutors across the country. The directive says: "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."

The letter merely clarifies federal law that has been in effect since 1968, Justice Department spokesman Drew Wade said Friday from Washington.

"People were going into gun stores (in Michigan and elsewhere) and showing these marijuana cards as proof of residence and ID," Wade said. Firearms retailers "were unclear on what to do. The sate laws said one thing and federal law said another" about whether such individuals could buy firearms and ammunition, he said.

Medical-marijuana users and their attorneys said they were stunned, while law enforcement authorities said the directive made sense.

"This was all news to me," said medical-marijuana user George Rolando, 50, of Ray Township in northern Macomb County.

"I own shotguns that I've hunted with all my life. Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Rolando said, adding, "Why are they trying to make me a criminal?"

Abel, the Detroit defense lawyer, who specializes in medical-marijuana cases, said he did not own guns, so he won't feel the ban's effect personally.

"But it's going to put pressure on Congress to evaluate both the gun laws and the drug laws," Abel said. "It'll be great to get the gun rights people on the same side" as the medical-marijuana users, he said.

The gun ban was welcomed by the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, known for aggressive prosecution of medical-marijuana users accused of abusing the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper "has been saying from the beginning -- our state laws may not shield a marijuana patient or caregiver from federal violations," Chief Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton said this week.

The ban came just as one of Michigan's best-known advocates for medical marijuana and legalizing pot -- Adam Brook, 43, of Royal Oak -- faces a prison term on firearms charges. Although the federal directive did not affect Brook's case -- he was prosecuted under state laws because he possessed guns without a permit -- his case points to the legal problems that can stem from mixing firearms possession with medical-marijuana use, even when the defendant is a state-registered patient as Brook was, his attorney, Jerome Sabbota, said.

Brook was "pushing the envelope" by possessing medical marijuana while keeping unregistered guns in his home, Sabbota said.

Brook was known for the last two decades as the organizer of the annual Hash Bash, a gathering of marijuana smokers that attracts about 5,000 people each April to the University of Michigan campus.

He's also the scion of the defunct Cadillac Luggage family business that occupied the Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit for decades.

Brook walks with a cane and said he uses marijuana to ease back pain caused by degenerative disc disease. Brook is to be sentenced Friday after he pleaded guilty to two concealed weapons violations and pleaded no contest to two counts of possessing marijuana with intent to deliver.

"This is all political," Brook said this week. Prosecutors of medical-marijuana patients "make you look like a dope dealer, which is not what I am," he said.

[BloodyJew]

But alcohol and firearms never hurt anyone right?

[Sharon]

Och well. I live in UK and we can't own guns anyhoo! Water pistols are our lot

[mrm1109]

Originally Posted by Sharon. ↗

Och well. I live in UK and we can't own guns anyhoo! Water pistols are our lot

I didn't know they were outlawed there

[rottenflesh]

It's just another move by the Government to restrict our liberties. They'll eventually move on to other proscription drugs once they get their way on this.

[Wolf]

This crap is why I am glad I don't live in Michigan anymore.

[Wildrice]

Only illegal if you get caught is my motto.

[kellyhound]

what an idiots.

[Mizz_Russia]

I bet a lot of people are packing up their stuff and moving to another state lol.

[spec_t8r1981]

We Montanans have that fucked up law too, WTF!