https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/ Empire State Cannabis Discussion Board en-US Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:37:08 +0000 wpForo 60 https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/doj-tells-supreme-court-that-federal-gun-ban-for-marijuana-users-must-be-upheld/ Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:44:14 +0000
In a reply brief in the pending case, U.S. vs. Hemani, DOJ reiterated its prior arguments defending the federal statute Section 922(g)(3), maintaining that there are sufficient historical analogues consistent with the nation’s founding that justify barring cannabis consumers from having firearms. To that end, Trump-appointed U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said justices should reverse an appeals court ruling that found the ban violates the Second Amendment.

“For decades—including when respondent violated Section 922(g)(3)—marijuana has been a Schedule I drug based on determinations that, inter alia, ‘marijuana had a high potential for abuse’ and lacks ‘accepted safety,'” Sauer said.

“The federal government is currently taking steps to reschedule marijuana under Schedule III to facilitate medical marijuana and CBD research ‘while preserving the Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks,'” he acknowledged, while adding that the rulemaking process “is not yet complete.”

To be sure, it’s been about two months since Trump signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to expeditiously finalize the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Justice Department told Marijuana Moment last month that it had no updates or comment on the status of the rulemaking.

“Respondent also urges that even if habitual users of other drugs could be deemed categorically dangerous, marijuana is too ubiquitous,” DOJ said in its latest brief. “But millions of Americans also regularly abuse opioids and cocaine. Whether marijuana is properly scheduled and how dangerous it is are questions the Controlled Substances Act leaves to the Executive Branch.”

In a footnote, the department also stressed that cannabis “remains a Schedule I drug, subject to the Controlled Substance Act’s most stringent restrictions.”

“That future rescheduling does not affect respondent’s constitutional defense against his conviction for a past offense,” it said. “Regardless, Schedule III classification reflects that a drug ‘has a potential for abuse,’ albeit ‘less than’ Schedules I and II, and that its abuse ‘may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.'”

The filing was submitted weeks after a series of cannabis and gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), filed amici briefs with the Supreme Court, urging it to pass final judgement that deems the federal firearms ban for cannabis users unconstitutional.

Central to the arguments from NRA and the drug policy organizations is that, based on separate Supreme Court precedent on gun restrictions, barring marijuana users from buying or possessing firearms lacks historical analogues consistent with the nation’s founding and is inconsistent with the increasing social acceptance of marijuana as states continue to legalize if for medical or recreational purposes.

ACLU attorneys representing Hemani have consistently made the case that the federal ban on gun ownership by marijuana consumers is nonsensical and unconstitutional—and that it’s made all the more confounding by the fact that Trump directed the expeditious finalization of a rule to move cannabis fto Schedule III of the CSA.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Hemani proceedings on March 2.

In the background, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) recently moved to loosen rules that bar people who consume marijuana and other illegal drugs from being able to lawfully purchase and possess guns by making it so fewer people would be affected.

The interim final rule from ATF seeks to update the definition of “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” under an existing policy that has been interpreted to deny Second Amendment rights to people who have used illegal substances a single time within the past year.

Last month, meanwhile, attorneys general for 19 states and Washington, D.C. filed their own brief siding with the federal government in the Hemani case, insisting that justices should maintain the current § 922(g)(3) statute.

Also last month, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and 21 other prohibitionist groups filed a brief, urging justices to uphold the constitutionality of the federal gun ban for people who use cannabis—which they claim is associated with violence and psychosis.

Sauer, for his part, told the Supreme Court that people who use illegal drugs “pose a greater danger” than those who drink alcohol.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration was evidently concerned about potential legal liability in federal cases for people convicted of violating gun laws simply by being a cannabis consumer who possessed a firearm, documents recently obtained by Marijuana Moment show.

The previously unpublished 2024 guidance from former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department generally cautioned U.S. attorneys to use discretion in prosecuting federal cannabis cases, particularly for offenses that qualified people for pardons during his term. But one section seems especially relevant as the Supreme Court takes on a case challenging the constitutionality of the current federal gun statute.

With respect to Hemani, in a separate August filing for the case, the Justice Department also emphasized that “the question presented is the subject of a multi-sided and growing circuit conflict.” In seeking the court’s grant of cert, the solicitor general also noted that the defendant is a joint American and Pakistani citizen with alleged ties to Iranian entities hostile to the U.S., putting him the FBI’s radar.

If justices declare 922(g)(3) constitutional, such a ruling could could mean government wins in the remaining cases. The high court recently denied a petition for cert in U.S. v. Cooper, while leaving pending decisions on U.S. v. Daniels and U.S. v. Sam.

The court also recently denied a petition for cert in another gun and marijuana case, U.S. v. Baxter, but that wasn’t especially surprising as both DOJ and the defendants advised against further pursing the matter after a lower court reinstated his conviction for being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm.

In any case, in Baxter, the department last week submitted a filing defending the federal gun ban for marijuana users—in part by drawing a contrast between those affiliated with gangs and a hypothetical “frail and elderly grandmother” who uses medical cannabis.

Meanwhile, in recent interviews with Marijuana Moment, several Republican senators shared their views on the federal ban on gun possession by people who use marijuana—with one saying that if alcohol drinkers can lawfully buy and use firearms, the same standard should apply to cannabis consumers.

Separately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit last year sided with a federal district court that dismissed an indictment against Jared Michael Harrison, who was charged in Oklahoma in 2022 after police discovered cannabis and a handgun in his vehicle during a traffic stop.

The case has now been remanded to that lower court, which determined that the current statute banning “unlawful” users of marijuana from possessing firearms violates the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

The lower court largely based his initial decision on an interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling in which the justices generally created a higher standard for policies that seek to impose restrictions on gun rights.

In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District, judges recently ruled in favor of medical cannabis patients who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights to possess firearms.

As a recent report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) explained the current legal landscape, a growing number of federal courts are now “finding constitutional problems in the application of at least some parts” of the firearms prohibition.

In another ruling, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated a defendant’s conviction and remanded the case back to a district court, noting that a retrial before a jury may be necessary to determine whether cannabis in fact caused the defendant to be dangerous or pose a credible threat to others.

The Third Circuit separately said in a published opinion that district courts must make “individualized judgments” to determine whether 922(g)(3) is constitutional as applied to particular defendants.

A federal court in October agreed to delay proceedings in a years-long Florida-based case challenging the constitutionality of the ban on gun ownership by people who use medical marijuana, with the Justice Department arguing that the Supreme Court’s recent decision to take up Hemani warrants a stay in the lower court.

—
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Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

Last year, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the ban was unconstitutional as applied to two defendants, writing that the government failed to establish that the “sweeping” prohibition against gun ownership by marijuana users was grounded in historical precedent.

A federal judge in El Paso separately ruled in 2024 that the government’s ongoing ban on gun ownership by habitual marijuana users is unconstitutional in the case of a defendant who earlier pleaded guilty to the criminal charge. The court allowed the man to withdraw the plea and ordered that the indictment against him be dismissed.

DOJ has claimed in multiple federal cases over the past several years that the statute banning cannabis consumers from owning or possessing guns is constitutional because it’s consistent with the nation’s history of disarming “dangerous” individuals.

In 2023, for example, the Justice Department told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that historical precedent “comfortably” supports the restriction. Cannabis consumers with guns pose a unique danger to society, the Biden administration claimed, in part because they’re “unlikely” to store their weapon properly.

]]> Cannabis General BurnMan https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/doj-tells-supreme-court-that-federal-gun-ban-for-marijuana-users-must-be-upheld/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/rso-and-feco/ Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:39:42 +0000 This is the start of a new educational page for stage 4 cancer patients and people in Chronic Pain that cannot be treated with traditional medicines]]> Cannabis General Admin https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/rso-and-feco/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/ohio-activists-submit-signatures-to-repeal-marijuana-and-hemp-restrictions/ Wed, 31 Dec 2025 13:31:26 +0000
Ohioans for Cannabis Choice said they’ve submitted a batch of 1,000 signatures to get the referendum process started. If the signatures are certified by the secretary of state, the campaign will then need to submit a total of about 250,000 signatures to make the ballot.

The proposed referendum would repeal the first three core sections of SB 56, a controversial bill that Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed into law earlier this month that he says is intended to crack down on the unregulated intoxicating hemp market. But the legislation would do more than restrict the sale of cannabinoid products to dispensaries.

The law also recriminalizes certain marijuana activity that was legalized under the ballot initiative voters approved in 2023, and it’d additionally remove anti-discrimination protections for cannabis consumers that were enacted under that law.

The governor additionally used his line-item veto powers to cancel a section of the bill that would have delayed the implementation of the ban on hemp beverages.]]> Cannabis General BurnMan https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/ohio-activists-submit-signatures-to-repeal-marijuana-and-hemp-restrictions/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/michigan-cannabis-industry-sues-to-block-new-24-marijuana-tax/ Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:09:23 +0000
LANSING, MI -- Shortly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana into law, Michigan’s most prominent cannabis trade organization filed a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Oct. 7, in the state Court of Claims and signed by Michigan Cannabis Industry Association Director Robin Schneider, asks the court to block the tax set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and declare it illegal.

The new tax is the result of bipartisan budget negotiations between the Republican-led House, Democrat-majority Senate and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who earlier this year floated the idea of a 32% wholesale marijuana tax to generate $470 million in new revenue for road repairs.

The reduced tax is expected to generate $420 million; however, opponents say that figure is inflated because it fails to take into account a reduction in sales due to higher prices.

“The 24% wholesale tax on cannabis passed by the Michigan Legislature and signed into law by Governor Whitmer is unconstitutional in multiple respects,” the legal team representing the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association said in a statement. “The lawsuit (also) details how the last-minute, late-night process occurred in violation of a range of other constitutional provisions.

“The Association is asking the court to strike the tax in its entirety.”

Michigan voters passed the recreational marijuana law, the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, through a ballot initiative in 2018.

The state Constitution requires any changes to a voter-initiated law to come through a public vote or three-quarter supermajority passage in both the state House and Senate.

The 2018 marijuana law includes a 10% excise tax on retail sales and stipulates that 30% of the revenue should go to local and county governments, 35% to schools and 35% to road and bridge funds.

The tax generated nearly $116 million for roads in 2024.

The lawsuit alleges any new tax on marijuana constitutes an amendment and therefore is subject to public vote or supermajority support for passage.

Supporters of the new tax disagree.

Dubbed the Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act, House Bill 4951 created a fund to collect new taxes for road construction, preservation and maintenance. The original version of the bill never mentioned marijuana and was referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

“But on September 25, 2025 -- just nine days after its introduction -- the House suspended its rules and discharged the bill from committee without ever conducting a hearing,” the lawsuit said. “On the same day, the House adopted a substitute to the bill, completely rewriting the body of the legislation to create a comprehensive and convoluted structure to levy an excise tax” on marijuana.

Proponents claim the new tax is a separate law that doesn’t infringe on the rights stipulated in the 2018 voter-passed language.

“When you read the initiated law from 2018, you see that it specifically references ‘other taxes,’ specifically, therefore, those who wrote this acknowledge that there are other taxes that can be charged and levied,” State Sen. Edward McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, said minutes before the Senate narrowly passed the legislation, 19-17. “And it doesn’t say that it can only be those that were in place at the time of passage.”

The lawsuit states, “while other taxes may generally apply to marijuana, such as sales tax, (the 2018 law) is the exclusive mechanism for imposing excise taxes.”

The lawsuit further alleges the new law violates the state Constitution’s “change of purpose” clause, which says the final version of a law must be “germane to the original purpose.”

“The final version of House Bill 4951 imposed a 24% excise tax on marijuana wholesale prices, defined taxable entities and transactions, mandated filings and specified how revenue generated from the new tax would be spent,” the lawsuit said. “These sweeping changes—none of which were present in the original bill—constitute an unlawful and unconstitutional change of purpose."

The lawsuit, which names the state, Treasurer Rachael Eubanks and the Department of Treasury, concludes by asking the court to declare the new tax “unconstitutional, null and void and without legal effect.”

MLive submitted requests for comment to the state Treasury and is awaiting response.]]> Cannabis General orthene https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/michigan-cannabis-industry-sues-to-block-new-24-marijuana-tax/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/sip-mj-drink-elixee/ Wed, 01 Oct 2025 13:15:30 +0000

Brand: . SIP ELIXIRS/Nano Elixir



Strength of Exilir: 100mg Per Bottle



Price: $8 a bottle = 10 Gummies



:smokepack



Flavor: Wild Berry



Amount Used for review: 3 Caps = 30 mg THC



:stoned



Time for onset of strong effects : [ About 23 minutes




Experience:



  ✓ Indica Chilled Effects
✓ Feeling hybrid effects. Mainly Indica feel
✓ Lasts a good amount of time
✓ Tastes like Wild Berries
✓ Lasts over three hours
✓ Eliminates all stress





Over all ratings: .


✓✓ Onset 10/10
✓✓ Strength 09/10
✓✓ Lasts Awhile 15/10


:stoned
]]> Cannabis General KratomToke https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/sip-mj-drink-elixee/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/cannabis-stocks-soar-after-trump-shares-video-promoting-drugs-use-for-seniors/ Mon, 29 Sep 2025 21:25:58 +0000
Cannabis stocks are on a high after Donald Trump shared a video on Sunday promoting cannabis use for seniors and Medicaid coverage of CBD products.

The nearly three-minute-long video, posted on the president’s Truth Social platform, touts the usage of hemp-derived CBD as a “gamechanger” that is a pain and stress reliever for seniors.

Stocks for cannabis companies, including Canopy Growth, Tilray and Cronos Group jumped Monday when stocks opened for the week. MSOS, an AdvisorShares Cannabis exchange-traded fund (ETF), also soared on Monday, after Trump posted the video.

The video was produced by the Commonwealth Project, a group promoting cannabis use for senior healthcare, and praised Trump for his 2018 farm bill that legalized industrial hemp.

“Now it’s time to educate doctors … provide Medicare coverage for CBD and give millions of seniors the support they deserve,” the video said.

The cannabis industry has long hoped the White House would take further steps to decriminalize cannabis at a federal level.

Under Joe Biden’s administration, the Department of Health and Human Services requested that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reclassify cannabis as a lower-risk substance. Marijuana is now classified as a Schedule I drug in accordance with the Controlled Substances Act, which means it has no accepted medical use and has a high risk for abuse.

But the Trump administration had been silent about decriminalizing marijuana until August, when Trump told reporters that his administration is “looking at reclassification and we’ll make a determination over the next few weeks”.

“I’ve heard great things have to do with medical, and I’ve heard bad things having to do with just about everything else,” Trump said. “It’s a very complicated subject.”

Currently, 40 states allow the use of medical cannabis products, and 24 states allow non-medical cannabis use.

Tilray led a rally by industry stocks in New York on Monday, surging by more than 40% in the wake of Trump’s video.

Advocates for cannabis for medical use say legalizing marijuana at a federal level will allow for better investment into research and broaden access.

“While the DEA plans to reschedule cannabis, today it is still a Schedule I drug – a controlled Substances Act classification for the most dangerous drugs such as heroin and LSD,” the Commonwealth Project says on its website. “As a result, studying cannabis is challenging and not integrated into comprehensive medical care, depriving millions of Americans aged 65 and older of potential life-changing alternative therapies for medical ailments.”

But it’s unclear where Terrance Cole, Trump’s DEA administrator, stands on reclassifying cannabis. Advocates pointed out that upon Cole’s appointment in July, he did not mention cannabis reclassification among his priorities, instead focusing on cracking down on fentanyl.]]> Cannabis General orthene https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/cannabis-stocks-soar-after-trump-shares-video-promoting-drugs-use-for-seniors/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/brix-strawberry-thc-gummy-review/ Thu, 25 Sep 2025 11:43:10 +0000
Brand: Baked Bros



Strength of Gummy: 100mg



Flavor Of Gummy [ Strawberry



Type of THC Gummy: Hybrid




Amount Used; [





✓ Very head Stoney effects
✓ Decent body high too
✓ at 2 Hours Very Strong effects
✓ 2.5 Hours still strong effects






:smokepack
]]> Cannabis General KratomToke https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/brix-strawberry-thc-gummy-review/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/strawberry-lemon-gron-thc-gummy/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:28:21 +0000


Brand of Gummy GRON


Gummy Strength 100mg THC


Price of Gummy $8.00



Flavor & Type of Gummy Cherry Lime. Indica


Amount used in review [ 40mg


Time for onset 1 hour


:smokepack


Type of effects:



*** Very Chilled Indica ride
*** Some head high going on too
*** General Stoney feel




Rating of Gummy 10 out of 10


:smokepack





[





]]> Cannabis General KratomToke https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/strawberry-lemon-gron-thc-gummy/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/road-trip-to-monroe-galaxy-lounge-og-hits-backpack-boyz/ Sun, 24 Aug 2025 22:41:34 +0000 After all these years in the Galaxy Lounge orbit, you start to recognize quality when you see it—and when you smell it. So when I fired up the ride and made the pilgrimage to Monroe, Michigan, I wasn’t just chasing hype. I was chasing heat. Destination: Backpack Boyz Dispensary. Verdict? 🔥🔥🔥

🛍️ The Haul
Let’s talk numbers and nectar:

70-count preroll packs — $39 each. That’s right. Seventy. Not seven. Not seventeen. Seventy. Smooth burn, solid roll, no nonsense. :gunright:

Honey oil-infused prerolls — $2 a pop. You read that right. Two bucks. These little rockets hit like they cost ten. :gunright:

200 mg Gummy packs — $2 each. Flavor-forward, no weird aftertaste, and they actually deliver. No placebo candy here. :gunright:

Everything? . No mids masquerading as premium. No sketchy packaging. Just clean, potent, and priced like they forgot to add the markup.

🧠 Final Word
If you’re still sleeping on Monroe, it’s time to wake up. Backpack Boyz isn’t just a dispensary—it’s a flex. And for Galaxy Lounge lifers like me, it’s the kind of spot that reminds you why you still chase quality after all these years.

:14_6_12:Recommended without hesitation. Just don’t clear the shelves before I get back.

]]> Cannabis General 1954 https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/road-trip-to-monroe-galaxy-lounge-og-hits-backpack-boyz/ https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/x-bites-gummies-new-07-29-2025/ Tue, 29 Jul 2025 09:10:08 +0000

Product: X bItes Gummies


Flavor: ORANGE MATTER


Texture Look of gummy smooth mirror like look


Type of THC Gummy   Nano THC Gummy


Amount of gummies for review 3 Gummies = 30 mg THC


:stoned


Time for onset of effects : 35 minutes



Nano equals   Quick Onset


  :stoned



Time & Type of Effects



✓ 35 minutes = Stoney Head feelings
✓ 60 Minutes = Body High Potent
✓ 90 Minutes = Strong Hybrid Effects
✓ 120 Minutes = Very Stoney Chilled Feelings



:stoned


X bItes compared To other Nano Gummies




✓ Stronger than other Nano Gummies
✓ Effects last longer than other Nano Gummies
✓ Texture of gummies very smooth
✓ Cheaper than other Nano Gummies





:smokepack



Would I buy again ? YES !!!



:cheech:]]> Cannabis General KratomToke https://empirestatecannabis.org/community/cannabis-general/x-bites-gummies-new-07-29-2025/