WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Gun rights and cannabis legalization are usually on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but both movements have brought about seismic shifts in the United States in recent decades.<\/p>\n
Now those forces are lining up for a rare overlap in a case coming before the Supreme Court<\/a> on Monday, and it is not the only unusual alliance. <\/p>\n The Republican Trump administration will be defending a firearm restriction, with backing from gun-control groups typically more aligned with Democrats. <\/p>\n On the other side is a pairing of the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. <\/p>\n At stake is a federal law that bars people who regularly use marijuana from legally owning guns. It is an issue that has divided lower courts since a landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision<\/a> expanded gun rights.<\/p>\n Cecillia Wang, legal director at the ACLU, said the law violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague about what it means to be a drug user. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re deeply concerned with the potential of this statute to basically give federal prosecutors a blank check,\u201d she said. \u201cMillions of Americans use marijuana and there is no way for them to know based on words of this statute whether they could be charged or convicted of this crime because they own a firearm.\u201d <\/p>\n Cannabis is legal for medicinal use in most states and for recreational use in about half the country. <\/p>\n But the law also applies more widely against all illegal substances, meaning the case could allow broader legal gun use by other drug users. The group Everytown for Gun Safety said the law meets the Supreme Court\u2019s<\/a> requirement that gun laws must have a strong grounding in the nation\u2019s history and tradition.<\/p>\n \u201cRestricting firearm use by illegal drug users is \u2018as old as legislative recognition of the drug problem itself,\u2019\u201d attorneys wrote. <\/p>\n Cannabis remains illegal on a federal level, though President Donald Trump has signed an order<\/a> to fast-track its reclassification as a less dangerous drug.<\/p>\n His Justice Department is also asking the justices to revive a criminal case against Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas man who was charged with a felony because he had a gun in his house and acknowledged smoking marijuana every other day. FBI agents also found a small amount of cocaine when they searched his home as part of a broader investigation, but the gun charge was the only one filed against him. <\/p>\n The conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the case, finding that only people who are intoxicated while armed can be charged with a crime.<\/p>\n