New Jersey officer reinstated after being fired for positive cannabis drug test

A police officer in Jersey City, New Jersey, has been fired after testing positive for THC on a drug test. Last week, this officer was reinstated to his post with back pay.

Norhan Mansour was fired long after Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill legalizing adult-use cannabis in New Jersey in 2021 (sales began in April 2022). After signing the bill, the Jersey City Police Department clarified that while cannabis is legal, police officers are prohibited from using cannabis off-duty. Mansour was one of four officers fired for testing positive for THC in June 2022, all of whom filed a lawsuit in April 2023.

Mansour’s attorney, Peter Paris, explained the hypocrisy of his dismissal. “What Jersey City is doing is like firing cops for having a beer off-duty,” Paris said in June. “But it’s even worse because there is no constitutional right to drink beer while in New Jersey there is a constitutional right to use cannabis.”

According to a June report in the Jersey City Times, the case was settled by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. Proponents of Mansour’s reinstatement, Judge Kimberly Moss said that state law “…prohibits employers from terminating an employee simply because the employee uses cannabis and prohibits employers from terminating their employees based solely on the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the employee’s body.” quit,” Moss said.

At an Aug. 2 meeting, the commission claimed the city’s argument was “unconvincing,” adding that the federal ban on cannabis users from owning firearms does not apply to law enforcement officers. “The Civil Service Commission finds that the appointing authority’s actions in dismissing the appellant were unjustified,” the commission said. “The Commission is therefore dismissing this complaint and upholding Norhan Mansour’s appeal. The Commission also orders that the complainant be granted back pay, benefits and seniority from the first day of separation without pay until the day of reinstatement.”

In October 2022, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission introduced a new policy on drug testing requirements for state law enforcement. By February 2023, Attorney General Matthew Platkin had also revised a policy on drug testing for law enforcement. “Due to the complexity of the law and to ensure consistent drug testing of government officials for cannabis use, there is a need to revise this policy,” Platkin said.

The issue of firearm ownership by individuals has also been studied extensively in recent years, both in the context of law enforcement and in relation to civilian gun ownership under federal law.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced earlier last year that she plans to sue the Biden administration “…to block a federal rule that would ban medical marijuana users from purchasing guns or permitting concealed carry.” Then, last November, a federal judge in Florida dismissed a lawsuit aimed at preventing medical cannabis users from buying firearms.

In February, an Oklahoma federal court ruled that prohibiting cannabis users from owning a gun was unconstitutional. Brian Vicente of Vicente Sederberg LLP described the case as a significant advance for cannabis users’ rights.

“For decades, and across states, medical cannabis patients have been asked to choose between participating in their state’s legal cannabis program or owning a firearm,” Vicente told the High Times in February. “This federal court decision secures adults’ rights to both use cannabis and possess guns, effectively removing the restrictions and associated stigma these adults face.” This is part of a broader trend in conservative states, the one Adopt marijuana policy, with both Alabama and Mississippi introducing medical cannabis programs in 2022 and Oklahoma poised to legalize cannabis on March 7th of this year.”

Similarly, in April, a federal court in Texas concluded that prohibiting consumers from owning firearms was also unconstitutional. “Quite simply, there is no historical tradition of denying individuals their Second Amendment rights based solely (or even partially) on the use of marijuana,” the lawsuit reads.