WIlDuce1883
01-27-2010, 12:23 PM
Medical marijuana has been legalized in a number of states, but after being touted as a ??prohibited substance? for so long, the terms of its use are still clouded. Okay, so a patient who has been legally allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes is protected from prosecution; but what about the workplace? Is the medical marijuana user protected there too?
Apparently not. An article on the Denver Post carries the head line: ??Medical marijuana users on uncertain ground in work places.? It shares the story of a few individuals who found their careers in jeopardy for resorting to a treatment method that has been rendered legal.
In one scenario, a writer from Manitou Springs who is suffering from arthritis, Dorian Beth Wenzel, wrote a letter to a local paper that revealed that she used medical marijuana. Soon after, she was called to the office of the human resources director of the organization that she works for where she was told that their office was a drug-free workplace.
Another employee from Denver failed a routine drug test that was taken after figuring in an on-duty car accident. Since the employee was a patient who used medical marijuana, the test came out positive.
What, indeed, can the employer do to an employee who has opted for an alternative treatment plan that is basically legal?
No one really knows for sure, although more often than not, that means that employers are free to interpret the rulings in whatever manner they see fit. Advocacy groups are calling it a form of discrimination, basically against the sick who have chose medical marijuana as treatment. What do you think?
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace: Workers Need Protection | Testing It Up â??? Drug & Health Testing News â??? Test Country Blog (http://hometestingblog.testcountry.com/?p=6384)
Apparently not. An article on the Denver Post carries the head line: ??Medical marijuana users on uncertain ground in work places.? It shares the story of a few individuals who found their careers in jeopardy for resorting to a treatment method that has been rendered legal.
In one scenario, a writer from Manitou Springs who is suffering from arthritis, Dorian Beth Wenzel, wrote a letter to a local paper that revealed that she used medical marijuana. Soon after, she was called to the office of the human resources director of the organization that she works for where she was told that their office was a drug-free workplace.
Another employee from Denver failed a routine drug test that was taken after figuring in an on-duty car accident. Since the employee was a patient who used medical marijuana, the test came out positive.
What, indeed, can the employer do to an employee who has opted for an alternative treatment plan that is basically legal?
No one really knows for sure, although more often than not, that means that employers are free to interpret the rulings in whatever manner they see fit. Advocacy groups are calling it a form of discrimination, basically against the sick who have chose medical marijuana as treatment. What do you think?
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace: Workers Need Protection | Testing It Up â??? Drug & Health Testing News â??? Test Country Blog (http://hometestingblog.testcountry.com/?p=6384)