Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is suing the Biden administration in an effort to block a federal rule that prohibits medical marijuana users from buying firearms or obtaining a concealed weapons permit.
Fried filed the lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), arguing that the government’s “irrational, inconsistent, and incoherent federal marijuana policy undermines Florida’s medical marijuana and firearms laws.”
The lawsuit argues that Floridians who legally participate in the state’s medical marijuana program are having their Second Amendment rights violated.”These laws are a complete conflict between what’s happening at the state level and what’s happening in the federal government,” Fried told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“People across our country understand that somebody shouldn’t be denied access to a firearm simply because they’ve chosen to use medical cannabis. That is discriminatory on its face for marijuana patients, and this is something that needs to be changed at the federal level.”
The lawsuit targets an ATF form that is given to potential gun buyers that asks, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug or any other controlled substance?” The form then says, “Warning: the use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.”
