Utah lawmakers pass legislation protecting patients using medicinal cannabis

Utah lawmakers have passed a bill to protect the rights of medical cannabis patients employed by government agencies. Under Bill SB46, state and local governments would be required to treat medicinal cannabis recommendations the same as prescriptions for other controlled substances.

The legislation offers medicinal cannabis patients protection from discrimination in healthcare and public services. Republican Representative Joel Ferry, the bill’s supporter in the House of Representatives, said the law is designed to protect patients who use cannabis legally under Utah’s Medical Cannabis Act, which voters passed in 2018.

“What this bill does is provide some clarity as to what the legislative intent was…to recognize medicinal cannabis as a legitimate use of cannabis to treat certain medical conditions, such as chronic pain,” Ferry said, as quoted by Deseret News.

The law passed the Utah House of Representatives on Wednesday by a 68-4 vote after passing it by a 26-1 majority in the state Senate last month. The bill now goes to Republican Gov. Spencer Cox for final approval.

Medical cannabis patient who is a firefighter has been suspended

Utah lawmakers drafted the law after an Ogden firefighter was suspended without pay last September for refusing to turn in his medical marijuana identification card. Firefighter Levi Coleman then filed a lawsuit against the city and the fire department, arguing that the action violated the Medical Cannabis Act.

The law passed almost unanimously in both houses of the Utah Legislature. Republican Representative Timothy Hawkes was one of four who voted against the bill in the House of Representatives. Hawkes said he feared the bill would give people who use “street marijuana” recreationally a “prison-free card.”

Some lawmakers expressed reservations that the law would allow public employees to work high. The law does not affect private employers.

But Ferry told his colleagues in the House of Representatives on Wednesday that the legislation does not prevent public officials from disciplining employees who are intoxicated or impaired at work.

“We already have extensive provisions for … people where medicinal cannabis is interfering with their ability to do their jobs, it’s all in the law,” Republican Rep. Norm Thurston agreed. “All this is saying is that the simple, extra act of finding a card won’t get you fired from your job.”

Rep. Kera Birkeland, also a Republican, said she appreciates the concern about public employees working under the influence of medical cannabis.

“But if we were to go through every controlled substance that we have and talk about abuse, every profession and everyone, maybe sometimes he would abuse,” Birkeland said, adding, “I mean, I’ll be honest, sometimes I’ll take two muscle relaxers , if you want me to take just one, right?”

“We’re not getting there,” she continued. “I think we need to let people work through this issue with their doctors and offer support and education and training on how not to abuse substances, instead of just saying, ‘You could abuse that, so we’re not going to let you take that drug and have this job.’”

Other lawmakers noted that the bill violated federal law, which still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance. But Republican Rep. Ken Ivory said the bill is a matter of states’ rights under the US Constitution and that Utah protects the interests of its citizens despite the federal government’s position.

“The founders and the writers have been reaching out to states to look at politics, to look at things that make sense for their people,” Ivory said.

“States are separate and independent sovereigns, and sometimes they need to act that way,” Ivory added, citing Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court John Roberts.