Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. The DEA can still swoop in and arrest you for growing cannabis no matter where you live, even if the state has legalized it to some degree or another.

And because it's still illegal at the federal level, people who want to own guns while using it run into a bit of a conundrum. Do they give up their guns or do they risk it?

In states where a license is required, it's an even bigger issue, but in states like Maryland, it's enough of a problem. 

And a bill was just advanced out of the Maryland state Senate that seeks to address the issue.

Maryland’s Senate advanced a measure protecting the gun rights of medical marijuana patients in a 43-2 vote Tuesday. The bill is now heading to the House of Delegates for consideration.

Senate Bill 348, sponsored by Sen. Mike McKay (R) proposes that a "person may not be denied the right to purchase, own, possess, or carry a firearm under this title solely on the basis that the person is authorized to use medical cannabis."

If the bill becomes law, it is scheduled to go into effect in October 2024. 

The question of whether medical marijuana patients should be allowed to own firearms under the Second Amendment has become more frequent across states with legal cannabis products. As more states legalize marijuana, at least for medicinal purposes, clashes between state and federal laws have occurred. 

Now, let's remember that Maryland is an anti-gun locale. They don't support your right to keep and bear arms. They have numerous restrictions in place regarding guns.

So why are they now passing what is, in essence, a pro-gun bill?

Because it's also a pro-marijuana bill, that's why.

Lawmakers in the state think nothing of trampling on people's gun rights, but if they want to ingest a substance that is illegal under federal law, well, we can't get in their way, now can we?

I don't think marijuana should be illegal, personally. While there are problems that can come from it and it's not the medical panacea some proponents claim, people have a right to do stupid things if they so desire.

And I don't think the use of it should prohibit someone from owning or carrying a firearm. "Shall not be infringed" is a thing, after all.

But we need to remember that all the state laws in the world won't change the fact that FFL holders are required to still have people fill out 4473s that ask if people use illicit drugs and the ATF still considered marijuana as an illicit drug, so saying "no" while using pot is a felony. They don't care about state law in a case like that.

If they did, then Missouri's gun control nullification law would have been able to accomplish so much more than it did.

We also need to remember that the lawmakers who passed this don't see this as any kind of benefit to people's gun rights. They don't care about those rights, only your right to do pot as much as you want.

But I guess it doesn't really matter why they did it for the right reasons or not, only that they did it.