Oregon MMJ program takes a step backwards

[TroubleGuy]

An Oregon Supreme Court ruling Thursday morning dealt a major blow to supporters of medical marijuana, giving employers broad powers to dismiss employees who smoke marijuana for personal use, even if those employees are medical marijuana cardholders.

The ruling, “Emerald Steel Fabricators Inc. v. Bureau of Labor and Industries of the state of Oregon,” has state officials scrambling to prepare a response, which some employment attorneys say could dramatically alter the state’s medical marijuana landscape.
“No matter what Oregon says in creating this medical marijuana program, this case is essentially saying that if the federal government wants to come in and bust users of medical marijuana, there’s nothing the state can do about it,” said Portland employment attorney Richard Meneghello.
Since Oregon voters passed a ballot measure instituting medical marijuana twelve years ago, employers and workers have had no clear legal direction on the responsibility of employers to accommodate cardholders.
Thursday’s ruling eliminates that uncertainty.
State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian said the ruling “seriously undercuts the law that Oregonians put in place, by initiative petition, in 1998.”
“The immediate impact of the Supreme Court’s decision is to remove the employment protection that medical marijuana users had under Oregon’s disability law,” Avakian said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “BOLI will no longer be able to enforce employment protection under state disability law for medical marijuana users.”
An Oregon Court of Appeals ruling issued Wednesday in the case of “State v. Berrringer” also hit medical marijuana programs. The court ruled that a California medical marijuana card was not valid in Oregon, allowing prosecution of a man who was stopped in Clackamas County while driving marijuana to a friend in Washington.
The National Federation of Independent Business’ Small-business Legal Center praised the Oregon Supreme Court ruling, saying it upheld the rights of employers to maintain drug-free workplaces.
“The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act permits registered patients to use marijuana free of the threat of criminal prosecution, but the act does not stand as a statutory trump card over every other statute and common law duty,” said Karen R. Harned, the legal center’s executive director. “Employers have a duty to their employees, customers and the general public to provide a safe and drug-free workplace. Oregon employers should not be saddled with a competing duty to accommodate patients who use marijuana pursuant to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. The Oregon Supreme Court made the right decision to overturn the lower court’s decision and find in favor of an employer’s right to maintain a drug-free workplace.”
The federation filed a “friend of the court” brief supporting the employer in the legal fight.

Invalidate the program
The case involves Anthony Scevers, a drill press operator at Emerald Steel Fabricators in Eugene. Scevers was dismissed from his job after disclosing that he used medical marijuana and was a cardholder. He had been told he was doing satisfactory work.

Scevers filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which eventually issued discrimination charges against Emerald Steel. The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed with the agency.
In reversing the Court of Appeals ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court basically said that federal drug laws trump state drug laws. Since medical marijuana is not recognized in federal law, and marijuana is considered an illegal drug by federal standards, employers can dismiss medical marijuana cardholders from jobs.
The ruling appears to exempt medical marijuana growers and caregivers, but makes clear that cardholders using medical marijuana are still breaking federal law, says Paula A. Barran, a Portland employment attorney.
One key section of the Supreme Court ruling calls the Oregon medical marijuana law “not enforceable.” And that phrase has attorneys both inside and outside state government wondering how far the ruling can be applied.
“I believe a fair reading of that paragraph may very well invalidate the entire medical marijuana program,” Barran said.
The Oregon Attorney General’s office said it had no comment on the ruling. But others were more willing to speculate.

Link: http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=127135987597883000

 

[Tony Aroma]

Some of the commenters on the original article had a simple solution: Get a prescription for Marinol and never fill it. If you test positive for THC, show them your prescription for an FDA-approved drug. Tests can't distinguish between synthetic and natural THC. If the feds want to play games having one form of a drug classified as a schedule 3 substance, but that very same drug in another form a schedule 1 substance, let them sort it out. Sounds like this is a non-issue.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

then they shouldnt be able to take opiates or anything else given by big pharma and go to work.... Bullshit....

 

[Speedcat]

yea, my assitant manager straight up said in front of customers, I need to go get my script filled, I cant work unless im heavily medicated. She takes zanex and hydrocodon.

 

[teddybud]

thats lame man.. go figure the man will always find a to try and hold us down.. REBEL!

 

[CANNATOPIA]

Man that sucks Sorry to hear this news.

 

[inphu510n]

Employment in Oregon is "at will" which means employers can fire you for no reason and you can quit for no reason. Sure people have taken things to court to argue that they were wrongfully fired but employers have this shield (and rightfully so).

See Here.

So, So, SO LAME of the OR Supreme Court to include that verbiage. Such a careless wording. Invalidating the OR MMJ program would be a MASSIVE setback to the legalization movement. If one state decides to fold because of federal jurisdiction (which MMJ states have been bucking) then the rest of the MMJ states have a big liability on their hands. This case would possibly set precedent in which the other MMJ states will have to take into consideration. UGH. What a moron to take this to court. Doesn't anyone else here understand that the Fed considers MJ illegal in any circumstance and that the Fed trumps state law??? If ALL of us don't THINK and play our cards right we'll screw off any chance we have of full legalization in this country. We can't pretend that it's legalized. Currently MJ is simply allowed in certain circumstances.

I currently live in San Diego which for some ungodly reason was the only city in the entire state to try bar MMJ cards/clinics from existing in it's borders. They took it to the CA Supreme Court who promptly told them to sit back down and stop being such a whiny bunch of pricks. It's completely fascinating to me that OR, an almost equally politically balanced state decided to roll over on this one. Soooo disheartening.

 

[schwagg]

tony aroma speaks the truth. say marinol!!!!

 

[the_red_bull]

Isn't anyone going to say how this IS discrimination and it is illegal. If those people aren't doing anything illegal in their use of cannabis, and they're not if they're medical users, and they're being dismissed from work for reasons unrelated to their job performance it is unlawful termination. DAMMIT do something about this.

 

[Hammerhead]

thats bad news. I hope it gets sorted out.

 

[HydroManiac]

The problem with all of this is all they have to do to get rulings like this is keep appealing until it gets to the fed level and the feds will always rule against mj they have no choice because federal law says it's not legal. Makes me wonder how somebody would file a tax return if they own a disp. because being that it's illegal I don't think they can file unless for the source of income they were to claim the 5th.

 

[615]

An interesting note is that people who have a prescription for Marinol may be tested for THCV. Marinol contains no THCV, if a person tests positive it means they have been using marijuana, or another cannabis product. This is usually sufficient grounds to terminate the prescription of a person who has signed a contract not to ingest any cannabis while taking Marinol.

 

[GreenThumbBumb]

Isn't anyone going to say how this IS discrimination and it is illegal. If those people aren't doing anything illegal in their use of cannabis, and they're not if they're medical users, and they're being dismissed from work for reasons unrelated to their job performance it is unlawful termination. DAMMIT do something about this.

Like mentioned above some states can for you for no reason.

 

[whiterasta]

This erosion has been steadily eating away at the original OMMA. At this point IMO it is actually a liability to have a card in Oregon. It hardly helps that one of the principles getting the law passed is now deep in bed with LE (Stormy Ray) and OrNorml is acting the fool(Madeline Martinez). If folks think we are "winning" they need to wake up as things can change for the worse with a single court ruling.
PS Oregon is a corporately owned state (big timber) and it's law reflects that point.
So now with 20,000+ patients effectively banned from employment perhaps they all should apply for state assistance.....ROTFALMAO! Oh yeah they want to drug test for that also. Can ya'll say economic starve out?
WR

 

[HippyJohnny]

If you cant earn wages then you can be an inmate... nice tidy box has been created.

This type of ruling shows how quickly things can go backwards almost instantly.

 

[PotPatriot]

As someone posted above Oregon is an At Will Employment State, which means If I am a manager or owner of a company, I can fire you JUST TO FIRE YOU!! because it is my company! see how that works! if you started a business and hired someone who turned out to be a burnout junkie would you now want some legal protection to protect your business's livelihood, profitability, and good name?

If you answer no you would not, then go find the biggest junkie heroin addict you can find and give him your debit card, that is essentially the same thing as having him employed under you.

And no person should be allowed to be inebriated on the job Pharmaceuticals or Marijuana, alcohol or crack it does not matter they are ALL THE SAME IN THE WORKPLACE. If you had for instance a bunch of stoners working in construction, then construction accidents and deaths WOULD increase, and what if those doctors in the ER were stoned too? the care the injured workers receive WOULD be sub-par, I am not saying that everything would be blanketed with negatives, I am saying there are no positives to getting baked at work, I love weed, but to say I need it "medically" is a joke, and 90% of you are a joke as well, you have NO UNDERLYING MEDICAL CONDITION that could not be taken care of or just dealt with a little old fashioned "fuck it" which means you get headaches all the time? fuck it get over it, tough shit people in africa die of thirst and starvation.

THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE MEDICATED AND WORK ARE THOSE WITH HIV/AIDS, CANCER, OR SOME FORM OF TERMINAL ILLNESS, NOT MUSCLE SPASMS OR HEADACHES OR "DEPRESSION".....pussy's

 

[HUGE]

I don't think this is about medicating "at work" it's more of a qestion of being terminated simple because they discovered he held a card. O also live In an at willemployment state & yes my job would fire me I they foun out I had a card even though I have never have nor ever will medicate before or during work. That just rude. They are paying me so I am on their time and act as such. However the problem starts when I fail a drug test. Then they will fire me even though everyone standing around me is high on opiates every day and that's perfectly fine.

 

[whiterasta]

As someone posted above Oregon is an At Will Employment State, which means If I am a manager or owner of a company, I can fire you JUST TO FIRE YOU!! because it is my company! see how that works! if you started a business and hired someone who turned out to be a burnout junkie would you now want some legal protection to protect your business's livelihood, profitability, and good name?

If you answer no you would not, then go find the biggest junkie heroin addict you can find and give him your debit card, that is essentially the same thing as having him employed under you.

And no person should be allowed to be inebriated on the job Pharmaceuticals or Marijuana, alcohol or crack it does not matter they are ALL THE SAME IN THE WORKPLACE. If you had for instance a bunch of stoners working in construction, then construction accidents and deaths WOULD increase, and what if those doctors in the ER were stoned too? the care the injured workers receive WOULD be sub-par, I am not saying that everything would be blanketed with negatives, I am saying there are no positives to getting baked at work, I love weed, but to say I need it "medically" is a joke, and 90% of you are a joke as well, you have NO UNDERLYING MEDICAL CONDITION that could not be taken care of or just dealt with a little old fashioned "fuck it" which means you get headaches all the time? fuck it get over it, tough shit people in africa die of thirst and starvation.

THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE MEDICATED AND WORK ARE THOSE WITH HIV/AIDS, CANCER, OR SOME FORM OF TERMINAL ILLNESS, NOT MUSCLE SPASMS OR HEADACHES OR "DEPRESSION".....pussy's

Man your ignorance is truly astounding! I am not going to waste time even going into all the ways you are just wrong. And the calling of MMJ users "pussies" will get you a resounding FUCK YOU from me personally.I don't wish this on even the most stupid of haters but I would sincerely love for you to carry this bodily burden through a day. Yeah it is bad in Africa I would just be dead there instead of pushing a body missing important parts and limping to carry my own weight.
So you come along and say I am a pussy for using cannabis to keep going. again I say FUCK YOU!
WR

 

[NHMI]

Some of the commenters on the original article had a simple solution: Get a prescription for Marinol and never fill it. If you test positive for THC, show them your prescription for an FDA-approved drug. Tests can't distinguish between synthetic and natural THC. If the feds want to play games having one form of a drug classified as a schedule 3 substance, but that very same drug in another form a schedule 1 substance, let them sort it out. Sounds like this is a non-issue.

Not true cuz jws-018 is synthetic THC used on herbal blends and it doesn't show up on drug tests...so wouldn't marinol be the same? Unless it is extracted THC, it should be different despite hitting the same receptors, though I know they don't test for synthetics around here...

 

[NHMI]

Pot doesn't inebriate you, nor does it make regular people lose control, they just have a warm feeling behind they eyes and a sense of wellbeing, ya that sounds like an awful thing for the workplace...better than perscription opiates many people use and then go to work on...

Pot works really well on a lot of things, so why push pharmaceuticals with serious side effects vs something harmless that is natural. Even if it is abused a lil, who cares, it's friggen pot! It isn't like alcohol, obviously you wouldn't want someone drunk at work or driving but for someone who smokes regularly it doesn't do much...I own a lucrative business and I smoke with my employees...and still make 6 figures working part time, "damn worthless stoners" lol