# Interesting fact on federal gun control laws **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 11, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842 "2015-07-11T05:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/21 "2015-07-11T15:52:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Are you aware he wasn’t using pot? He was caught with Suboxone, used to treat opiate dependence. Yes. Pot is a Schedule I drug. Suboxone is Schedule II, lower drug. How is that relevant? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/22 "2015-07-11T15:53:39Z")
> [@naita](#): > > “every person in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon and DC that “legally” uses marijuana” ≠ “an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” According to federal law, yes they are unlawful users of controlled substances. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/23 "2015-07-11T15:56:22Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Yes. Pot is a Schedule I drug. Suboxone is Schedule II, lower drug. How is that relevant? This whole thread is about gun control and denying users of MJ their gun rights. So why mention Roof as a "user’ except to imply he used the dreaded weed? You could have mentioned he was an opiate user but failed to make that distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/24 "2015-07-11T15:59:59Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > This whole thread is about gun control and denying users of MJ their gun rights. > So why mention Roof as a "user’ except to imply he used the dreaded weed? You could have mentioned he was an opiate user but failed to make that distinction. Huh? I was asked “how recent/frequent does use have to be for one to be a user and not a former user?” I used Dylann Roof as the example to demonstrate that 2 months prior use qualifies one as a “user”. Which particular drug it is is not relevant to the law, is it? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/25 "2015-07-12T08:30:27Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Conclusion: every person in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon and DC that “legally” uses marijuana is precluded from buying firearms, by federal law, and can be rejected when doing background checks for buying a firearm. > > Same with anyone who uses marijuana under any state’s medical use permissions. What’s the debate? In any case, the only “interesting fact” here is the ridiculousness of marijuana being listed as a Schedule I controlled substance, effectively classifying it as the most dangerous of drugs, in the same category as heroin and MDMA, and worse than meth which is Schedule II. This is so obviously absurd that it inevitably will have to be delisted, and when it is, problem solved. The only reason it was ever classified the way it is goes back to the 1930s and a fellow named Harry Anslinger, who as crusading head of the Bureau of Narcotics was able to persuade Congress to do so based on highly scientific evidence like “reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men … the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races”. Apparently Harry included women in his classification of “degenerate races”, because he also stated that “marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes”. Congress may have believed those things in 1937 but today some might question whether they’re really the best reasons to have marijuana on Schedule I. Personally I think anything that makes guns harder to get is a good thing, but that’s a whole other issue. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/26 "2015-07-12T13:33:57Z")
More guns sold at dusk? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842/27 "2015-07-12T13:55:02Z")
The crucial phrase in the OP is an “unlawful user” of such drugs. I know there’s Federal laws regarding sales and possession of such drugs, but is there a Federal law prohibiting their use? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-fact-on-federal-gun-control-laws/724842.md?page=1)