Before the Colorado Supreme Court: Pot is legal, but can you still be fired for using it?

[fizzgig]

By SADIE GURMAN, Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it.

Now, the state's highest court is considering whether workers' off-duty use of medical marijuana is protected under state law.

Colorado's Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case involving Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who was fired by the Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010.

Coats said he never got high at work. But pot's intoxicating chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks.

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we only do drug testing if the employee is working on a specific account and my boss and i went around on this when the latest round of testing came up.

[obxhead]

1. It can stay in your system for months.

A had a friend that had to get weekly testing. It took 18 weeks for it to clear her system and I know she wasn't cheating. She was overweight though and THC gets stored in fatty cells.

The "joke" in the construction trade was don't get hurt if you smoke. You'll be fired before you hit the ground and workers comp won't cover the injuries.

[chknltl]

2. KnR nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. This is one of the most interesting issues of the latest legalization push

How various states are handling UI/DUI investigations and the interpretation of results.

Someone could ingest/smoke on Friday night and still have enough active "substance" in a blood test to test as totally baked on Monday morning. Forgetting being left cold and broke from a workman's comp claim being denied for "drug use" (legal or not) for a minute, what happens with private insurance if someone T-bones you in an intersection on your way to work, and you test positive as part of a mandated "you were in an accident" clause if they have to take you to the hospital? Does it then become your fault even though the other guy was obviously not paying attention?

I saw where one state was drafting in their MMJ laws a provision that employers could not discriminate against anyone with a state-issued MMJ card. Pre-hire testing was the example used - on the job testing wasn't addressed. At the end of the day - alcohol isn't even scheduled - and you can be fired or lose a workman's comp claim for drinking on the job. Far cry between being a (legal) user on your own time and being stoned on the job.

A friend of mine just had to can a 37 year employee of the commercial electrical contracting firm they work for because his card was pulled and he failed a mandated, random drug test. I asked him - how do you differentiate between if the guy was high on the job on a Monday afternoon vs if he smoked a bowl over the past weekend? His response was that they have no way of knowing, but because of the kind of work they do, its zero tolerance - and legalized MMJ won't change that given their industry.

It will be interesting to see this one play out in the court system as there isn't a '1 drink per hour' thing on cannabis like there is on alcohol. They sell golden seal for a reason. (Now I am dating myself. LOL) This shit can stay in your system for weeks.

[Trillo]

4. If you can be fired, then missing 16 pay hours each full workday is an issue.

Cause the 24/7 clock keeps ticking if you're smoking pot of the pay clock and get fired for it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Good point.

That said, there are on-call jobs that require complete sobriety but don't pay unless you are called in. I have a relative who is a surgical nurse that has one weekend every month of on-call.

This is going to be an interesting aspect to write laws for.

[Politicalboi]

6. So us $8.00 an hour workers

Are still on the clock without pay because we have to obey our employers rules off the clock. I say Fuck them. I've smoked for over 30 years off and on the clock. I've always hated how employees can talk about drinking each other under the table on a Tuesday night, and then come in if they can the next day. Pot has NO hang over. Pot is more likely to put you to bed at a decent time, so you're well rested and ready for work the next day. I would hire pot heads over drinkers every time if I had to choose. States that have legal MJ should allow people to be able to keep their job. And states that have Medical MJ should accept the recommendations, or give us disability to avoid cheating on a drug test. Fuck em. And zero tolerance if they're going to enforce that, should include alcohol. For years and years and years we've been hearing "But pot is illegal" bullshit. Well, now it's not in 2 states. We've suffered enough having to worry that some simple accident could cost us our job for the joint smoked 2 weeks ago. Compared to the idiot who caused the accident who drinks, but didn't test positive, but still has a job.