You're ignoring the biggest part of my original question being that if it's below the legal threshold of THC content that delineates Marijuana from Hemp would it be lying if you check no on the ATF form? That was my real question. It's more of a question of technicality, don't get me started on all of the alcoholics that truly are addicted to alcohol and can get hammered at will and still have firearms. If it's technically hemp which gray area has been crossed?
Maybe a gray area within a gray area within a gray area, lol.
There aren’t any clear guidelines on that. It’s legal to possess hemp. But even that becomes more of an issue. So hemp that has below 0.3% THC is not a scheduled 1 drug. It’s legal, under the Farm Bill, to own. But how do you know what THC level your specific weed has? You don’t. Your supplier is required to test random plants, but not every plant. And if that plant that is tested (but not necessarily the one sold to you) is found to be above the threshold, they have to destroy that batch. But there is no way to know, or tell, if what you have bought is above or below 0.3% THC.
Here’s where things get more confusing. Lets say you intended to buy illegal weed, and the guy sold you oregano. Did you violate the law? No. You intended to violate the law, but you didn’t possess a controlled substance. Lets say you intended to buy oregano, and the guy sold you weed. Did you violate the law? Technically no, as you needed intent to violate the law (although ignorance of the law is no excuse, and claiming you thought it was oregano might not fly in court). What does that mean? If you intended to buy CBD, but it was weed, technically it wouldn’t be illegal. Even though you possessed an illegal substance. If you then smoked that illegal substance, you have violated the regulations surrounding gun ownership. If you intended to buy weed, and it was CBD, technically it wouldn’t be illegal. Even though you had the intent to violate the law.
But even if it is just CBD you bought, and just CBD you consumed, THC can build up in your system, at levels that are consistent with someone that used illegal marijuana. So there is no way to tell what you consumed. There was a truck driver in VA (I think) a few years back that used CBD for back pain. THC built up in his system, and pursuant to DOT random drug tests, he tested positive. Which means he lost his CDL, and his job. The employer wanted to keep him, but DOT regulations bound their hands. He appealed, and said he was lawfully using a product, but didn’t matter. There was an opportunity for him to take a substance abuse class and get his license back. But when he applied, he was declined, because he never used an illegal substance, and so he was disqualified from substance abuse classes. It was illegal enough to get him fired, but not illegal enough for him to get his job back.
Now where do firearms fall within this realm. The Form 4473 asks “are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcontic drug, or any other controlled substance?” When purchasing a firearm, you have to answer that question. If you believe the CBD you acquired was “lawful” under the Farm Bill, you passed the first part. If you’re “addicted to” the THC component within CBD, or if it’s possible you are “addicted to” CBD that was actually marijuana, then you
*should** say “yes”. If you believe you are not addicted to, and was never an unlawful user of any controlled substance, you
should say “no.” But that’s up to you.
Now, after the fact, if you have THC in your system, from CBD, technically under federal law (the same one involving the DOT regulations with the Truck Driver) there is no way for them to differentiate if you smoked CBD or marijuana. And at that point, they
could determine that you’re illegally in possession of firearms.
The odds of that happening are like as close to zero as possible. But as close to zero as possible is not “zero.” Hence you should be aware of the issue.
Which makes even more of this weird. Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug. What makes marijuana marijuana? THC. So if you remove the THC, it isn’t marijuana. AKA, hemp. But synthetic THC is a Schedule 3 drug. So THC in a plant makes it Schedule 1, but THC extracted from a plant makes it Schedule 3 and the plant an uncontrolled substance. Hemp itself, in the plant form, is considered cannabis, and is prosecuted as a Schedule 1 drug. So if you grow hemp without a permit under your state program, it’s a Schedule 1 drug when it’s growing, but the second you cut the stem, it’s a legal CBD product and legal to own dump trucks full of. Just weird.
The other problem is, if you get pulled over by someone (say driving to or from a range, something any responsible firearm owner should do), and you’re in possession of a firearm and CBD, there’s nothing stopping the officer from confiscating both and charging you. Then sending the CBD to the lab to see what the levels are. For all he knows, you took marijuana and put it in a CBD container (assuming you have the CBD container). At that point you really hope the source of your CBD was on their testing game. You may ultimately win that, but it’s a pain in the ass, and expensive to deal with. Hence, you should be aware of it.
