On May 1, the Appellate Division of a New Jersey Superior Court ruled that a police officer could not be terminated solely for off-duty, state-legal recreational marijuana use – a ruling that, at its core, upholds a different standard for firearms-carrying police officers than for armed civilians.
In April, the Justice Department rescheduled marijuana from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 3 controlled substance. And although recreational cannabis consumption is legal in New Jersey for adults over 21, there is both a federal and state prohibition against “unlawful users” of controlled substances for firearms owners.
In its 19-page decision, the court arrived at some unusual conclusions, affirming the guidance of the administrative law judge who directed the officer’s termination, not because of his use of cannabis to manage pain, but because he didn’t purchase the cannabis from a licensed seller.
In 2023, we reported how New Jersey’s drug testing policies for law enforcement officers (issued under then-AG Matthew Platkin) created a double standard and much softer handling than an ordinary citizen would be subjected to under a defensive gun use.
In this recent case, even the Jersey City Police Department sought to fire the officer for cannabis use, but the court’s May 1 decision takes this double standard to a new level.
The court found that the federal Gun Control Act’s (18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(3)) prohibition on the use of controlled substances by gun owners does not preempt CREAMMA (New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act), the 2021 law that included employment protections when cannabis was legalized.
Put more simply, the court found that law enforcement officers – who carry firearms as part of their job and can even carry nationwide under LEOSA – may continue doing so while using marijuana off-duty, a privilege that is not afforded to other civilian gun owners.
“Accordingly, when firearms or ammunition are ‘issued for the use of’ a police department, such as the JCPD, the restrictions imposed under 18 U.S.C. Section 922 are eliminated,” stated the court.
In this decision, the court has conjured a standard in direct violation of federal law.
In issuing this decision, the court simultaneously decided two other outstanding cases addressing similar issues (In re Mansour, No. A-3876-23; In re Polanco, No. A-3886-23).
Last week, we also documented how the state of New Jersey upholds another double standard when outlawing possession of hollow-point ammunition in public for armed citizens, but requiring it for police officers.
