Should medicinal pot users be allowed to have a job?

[Newsjock]

Source: Sacramento Bee

Californians gave Gary Ross the legal right to smoke medicinal marijuana at home.

But that didn't keep the Carmichael resident from being fired for doing so.

Ross is at the epicenter of a fight pitting the rights of more than a quarter-million medicinal marijuana users against those of business owners.

... The California Supreme Court ruled against Ross in January, sparking recent legislation to protect the jobs of medicinal users. The court found that California's medicinal marijuana initiative, passed in 1996, did not address employment.

Since marijuana is illegal under federal law, businesses have the right to fire anyone who tests positive for it, the court ruled.

... Stewart Katz, Ross' attorney, said the ruling essentially forces medicinal pot smokers to choose between work or medication.

... "It's a medicine, folks," said Ross, a single father of two who now works in park management. "Why can't we take our mind out of the Sixties, move forward and apply the science that's available to us?"

... Assemblyman Mark Leno is pushing legislation to bar discrimination against medicinal pot users in hiring, firing or conditions of employment.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/964495.html

[fascisthunter]

1. wuh?

"Oh right.... Um. Why not!"


Just kidding.....

"It's a medicine, folks," said Ross, a single father of two who now works in park management. "Why can't we take our mind out of the Sixties, move forward and apply the science that's available to us?"


I agree.... move on folks. Time to evolve.

[loveable liberal]

2. Fire Alcoholics too.... Oh and coffee drinkers!!!

Fire all self medicating people and anyone else who use drugs on a regular basis. Uh Oh... that means I'll be out of a job.

I'm tired of the sanctimonious hypocrites who get all bent out of shape about pot. Its not about the weed, its about the greed.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[panader0]

3. As an employer, I won't hire anyone unless they are pot smokers.

(Kidding, sort of) In construction, if you are good at your trade, you can get a job no matter what you do in your private life.

[Warpy]

6. They'd get into fewer fights on the job, anyway

The main danger stoners pose is to bags of chips.

[lonestarnot]

4. And fire all those addicted booger eaters tooooooooooooooo!

[Warpy]

5. I would think it would depend on the job

In a job that requires fast reflexes, one would think having people on any sort of psychoactive drug would be a liability, and I'm talking about other prescription drugs from antihistamines to pain medications to psychotropics.

I never took pain medication at my own job because even though I realized that there were times I was more impaired by pain than I would have been by the medication, there was a grey area about drugs on the job and I didn't want to be a test case if something had gone wrong.

The problem with medical pot is that it persists in fatty tissue and can be detectable by piss tests for weeks. While a person might be responsible enough not to use it before work or on the job, a test will always show that person to be stoned out of his gourd, a problem with the test and not the patient.

The main problem is with our laws and with our stupid drug tests. A better test for anyone who is suspected of being stoned on the job would be a quick, timed cognitive test. Unfortunately, our punitive culture never seems to think of that one.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. but it is legal for McCain to use Ambien, for Bush to use..uhhh

god knows what he uses,
legal for psyco/socio-paths to be in office, and let's not even begin to talk about all the untreated sex addiction that seems to be so prevalent in elective office.
oh, and all those untreated Adult Children of Alcoholics who act their emotional dysfunction in high office:
Nixon, Bill Clinton, for starters.

God forbid anyone should be mellow and introspective on pot.

oh hell, now I've gone and gotten myself all upset over the idjuts.

wait here...I'll be back in a minute...
or 2
or

[OwnedByFerrets]

7. Is this a trick question? Of course, they should...nt

[Joanie Baloney]

8. Welll......duh!

Otherwise, nobody would be available to work in Humboldt County, Santa Cruz County, any college town...Hawaii...umm, Hollywood...


What were we talking about?

[ensho]

9. pot smokers the world over work

alcohol drinkers are the menace

[alarimer]

10. That depends on the job.

Bookkeeping or computer programming, sure.

Driving a forklift, not so much.

Of course no one should be under the influence of any medication while driving a forklift or other heavy machinery, even allergy meds, which often cause drowsiness.

[jimshoes]

11. In the Corporate States of America

it probably does.

[eyesroll]

12. "Use or non-use of legal products" is a protected class here in WI.

If medical marijuana was legal here (it isn't), a user would have the right to a job, unless it could be shown that the MJ would interfere with the safe performance of the job (air traffic controller, bus driver), or the employer was an anti-MJ lobbying group or something.

It's the same way with, say, someone who uses narcotics for chronic pain.

ETA: I have no idea what would happen in practice, since, as the court decision above noted, MJ is still illegal under federal law.

[Trillo]

13. Should those taking any other prescription medicine be fired?

It seems there's a very good reason for medical records to be strictly private, and specifically be kept from the employer. The fascist/authoritarian/domination/judgmental impulse runs strong in all business, apparently.

[Marrah_G]

14. Depends on the job

If it puts others at risk or doesn't allow them to fulfill their duties, then no.

[juno jones]

16. One of the reasons I do what I do.

No drug tests.

No loyalty oaths either.

[Boxerfan]

17. Fully certified forklift operator/mechanic here...MMJ user for the past 38 years

Of course the early years were a bit less than medicinal...
But it still beats the HELL out of legal medications for pain when it comes to the ability to function at work.
I do incredibly complex engine rebuilds without a book. Vs my siblings who have mostly used legal medications my memory is actually superior. Vastly superior than a sibling who still drinks.

As a former homeless alcoholic I was able to stop booze but the good herb has helped me far more than it has hurt. And my Dr. concurs...

Unfortunately I can not be forthright to my employer & my wife pee's for me. I use a latex glove with clean urine & a foot warmer chemical bag. In the stall I open the glove with a fingernail. Be sure the temperature is close to 98 degrees & no problemo...

For those that don't get it-MMJ for pain merely acts as a distraction for the pain. Allowing a respite for the central nervous system & allowing relaxation of affected joints. It's not at all about getting high despite the fact I consume a steady dose daily.

Till drug testing started in my industry it was the drug of choice by professionals. sadly they had to revert to booze or harder illegal drugs that more readily pass through before tests.

It is a moral waste of time & energy to test for pot. Like one poster said-I would rather work with a pothead than a drunk...

[RedCappedBandit]

18. Drug testing for employment should be illegal

imo