... you'd likely have to lie on a 4473.
Not really. The question is in the present tense. If you smoked weed yesterday but "quit" overnight then you can "truthfully" answer no, you are not currently a user of....
A first year law student could shred that question.
A second year law student could write regulatory definitions to solve that.
Somebody did...
(Bolding mine. Also the underscoring in the part where
possession implies use).
Department of Treasury
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Definitions for the Categories of Persons Prohibited From Receiving Firearms (95R-051P)
...
Persons Who Are Unlawful Users of or Addicted to Any Controlled Substance
As proposed in Notice No. 839, the terms ``controlled substance''
and ``unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance'' are
defined as follows:
Controlled substance. A drug or other substance, or immediate
precursor, as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances
Act, 21 U.S.C. 802. The term includes, but is not limited to,
marijuana, depressants, stimulants, and narcotic drugs. The term
does not include distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or
tobacco, as those terms are defined or used in Subtitle E of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance. A
person who uses a controlled substance and has lost the power of
self-control with reference to the use of the controlled
substance; and any person who is a current user of a controlled
substance in a manner other than as prescribed by a licensed
physician. Such use is not limited to the use of drugs on a
particular day, or within a matter of days or weeks before, but
rather that the unlawful use has occurred recently enough to
indicate that the individual is actively engaged in such conduct.
A person may be an unlawful current user of a controlled
substance even though the substance is not being used at the
precise time the person seeks to acquire a firearm or receives or
possesses a firearm. An inference of current use may be drawn
from evidence of a recent use or possession of a controlled
substance or a pattern of use or possession that reasonably
covers the present time, e.g., a conviction for use or possession
of a controlled substance within the past year, or multiple
arrests for such offenses within the past five years if the most
recent arrest occurred within the past year.
The DOJ Office of Policy Development inquired whether the
proposed definition includes persons found through a drug test to
use a controlled substance unlawfully, provided the test was
administered within the past year. In response, ATF agrees that
this information would give rise to an inference of unlawful drug
use. Accordingly, the final regulations are being amended to
identify these persons in the definition as an example of
unlawful drug user.
DOD commented that the examples should be expanded to include
illegal drug use as evidenced by nonjudicial or administrative
proceedings. DOD believes that it would be helpful to add the
following at the end of the proposed definition:
For a current or former member of the Armed Forces, an inference
of current use may be drawn from recent disciplinary or other
administrative action based on confirmed drug use, e.g.,
court-martial conviction, nonjudicial punishment, or an
administrative discharge based on drug use or drug rehabilitation
failure.
ATF finds that the Defense Department's proposed language helps
to clarify the definition with respect to the military and is
adopting the proposed amendment into the final regulations.