« December 2004 | Main | April 2005 »
January 13, 2005
A Victory for Medical Marijuana Users
This article is certainly a victory for medical marijuana users, but I want to emphasize that this medical marijuana patient in article would never have to go through all this legal hassle if he would have communicated with us concerning his drug testing issue. Our policy to ALL people that have prescriptions for drugs of abuse to NEVER, EVER,reveal your medical situation to ANYONE. You might think you have nothing to loose but I have seen it time again when people loose their jobs even if they have a valid prescription. Secondly, it is no ones business what medication you are on. That should only be between you and your doctor.
Worker Fired for Medical Marijuana use has Lawsuit Reinstated
1/13/2005, 12:34 a.m. PT
The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged that his employer failed to accommodate his use of medical marijuana.
Robert Washburn's employer, Portland-based Columbia Forest Products, fired him from its Klamath Falls mill after urine tests detected marijuana residue in his system.
Washburn suffers from neck pain and muscle spasms that disrupt his sleep. He obtained a state-issued medical marijuana registration card 1999.
A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge had tossed out Washburn's lawsuit, ruling that the state Medical Marijuana Act doesn't require a company to make accommodations for workers with marijuana in their system.
But the Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a positive drug test based on a urine sample does not prove that a worker used or possessed marijuana at work. It also found that the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act does not prohibit workers in Oregon from using marijuana for medical purposes.
But the court also found that Washburn's use of medical marijuana does not automatically entitle him to accommodations. Instead, the court said, an employer could argue that certain accommodations might be unreasonable or create an "undue hardship."
The appeals court ordered the Multnomah County Circuit Court to decide whether Washburn's accommodation request was reasonable. Washburn asked Columbia Forest Products to use a blood test to determine whether he violated company policy forbidding drug use at work.
A blood test is considered a more accurate measure of whether marijuana exists in the bloodstream, employment attorneys say.
The ruling is the first attempt to clear up a confusing area of law for scores of employers.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act says employers don't have to accommodate the "medical use of medical marijuana in any workplace." But Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries officials have said that under the state disabilities act, employers might have to make reasonable accommodations for medical-marijuana cardholders with qualified disabilities.
Philip Lebenbaum, an attorney who represented Washburn, called the decision a victory for workers who use marijuana for medical reasons. But he said the ruling does not allow workers to show up unfit for work.
Posted by calvis at 10:10 PM | Comments (2)