Ruling Eyed In Florida Medical-Marijuana, Gun Ownership Case – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

With an appeals court slated to hear arguments in October, a Florida lawsuit challenging a federal prohibition on medical-marijuana patients buying and possessing guns might have received support this week.

The lawsuit alleges that the prohibition violates Second Amendment rights. But U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in November granted a request by the federal government to dismiss the case.

In a separate lawsuit, however, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week ruled that the prohibition violated the Second Amendment rights of a Mississippi man who was prosecuted and barred from having guns after authorities found marijuana in his car.

In the news: 7 Arrested, Warrants Issued For 4 Others In Florida Disabled Parking Placard Probe

An appeal in the Florida case will be heard Oct. 5 by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Department of Justice made a filing Friday informing the Atlanta-based court of the ruling in the Mississippi case — though it argued the case was “incorrectly decided.”

The Florida lawsuit is rooted in a conflict between federal and state laws. Under federal law, possession of marijuana is illegal; under a 2016 Florida constitutional amendment, hundreds of thousands of patients are able to buy medical marijuana.

Federal laws also bar certain people from buying and possessing guns, including people who use drugs illegally. In dismissing the Florida lawsuit, Winsor cited the…