Yes, you are fired! – Why a doctor’s note for MMJ won’t save you from losing your job

Americans who use cannabis even for medicinal purposes in marijuana-legal states still face losing their jobs as long as the federal government maintains a marijuana ban. That’s in line with a statement released Saturday by US officials, which indicates that even if you have a doctor’s prescription, you cannot be legally excused if you test positive for THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana will.

The federal rules still stand

Over the weekend, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration made the statement in a proposal to further expand drug testing systems that can screen employees for banned Schedule 1 drugs, which consist of substances federal authorities say the federal authorities say they do not they are currently not licensed for medicine use and have a high potential for abuse and cannabis.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration also proposed implementing language in the federal registry to indicate that inhaling second-hand marijuana smoke is not a real excuse for people who have tested positive for cannabis, nor is it ingesting Edibles with THC. The guidelines apply to all forms of drug testing, including blood, urine and saliva samples.

Mixed views to test

Views of the federal ban among members of Congress are understandably mixed as more states legalize cannabis. The House of Reps Appropriations Committee released a report last year advising federal agencies to scrap regulations requiring the firing of employees who use medical marijuana in states where it’s legal.

Among employers, the U.S. military was among the strictest to impose a marijuana ban, prohibiting military personnel from ingesting any form of marijuana, including CBD and other compounds legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill. According to Marijuana Moment, just last week members of the US Navy were told not to drink Pepsi’s new Rockstar energy drink that contained cannabis seed oil.

The notice to military personnel states that Sailors and Marines are prohibited from using products made from or derived from cannabis, including CBD, regardless of the product’s THC concentration and whether it was used under applicable civil law.

The FBI has not yet abolished its prohibition policy, but has scaled it back significantly. Potential FBI employees can only be automatically barred from working at the agency if they have used cannabis within a year of applying for a job, which is less than the previous three-year rule.

Illinois lawmakers say otherwise

In the Illinois House of Representatives, state legislators passed legislation that would address a growing problem with legal marijuana: protecting employees who use cannabis from being fired for having THC in their system. Although marijuana has been legalized in 37 states for medical use and 18 for recreational use, employers in most countries can still use the result to refuse to hire an applicant or fire an employee.

Some states have taken action.

A law was recently passed in Philadelphia that prevents employers from using a cannabis drug test as a condition of employment. In Illinois, where both recreational and medical marijuana are legal, lawmakers have been working to address the issue statewide for the last year.

A question of fairness

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois House passed the bill by a vote of 61 to 41, mostly along the party line. The bill’s main backer, State Assemblyman Bob Morgan, a Democrat, said the measure would allow people to use a legal product recreationally “without fear of losing their jobs.”

People see it as a matter of fairness. An employee can consume alcohol at weekends or at night without fear of consequences. But even in states that have legalized cannabis, it’s difficult to do the same with cannabis when Monday morning employees fear a drug test. Because THC, the psychoactive element in cannabis, can be detected in blood or urine for several days.

The Illinois proposal prevents employers from firing or refusing to hire someone after a drug test detects THC in their system so long as the person does not appear intoxicated and does not test above the threshold for driving under the influence of 10 nanograms milliliters in urine or saliva or 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood.

While the law seems rational, for business owners and law enforcement, matters are more complex.

Marijuana use and professional license

This question is popping up more and more in our world. If you are a licensed professional (e.g. doctor, attorney, nurse) and happen to have a medical marijuana card, can you lose your license for medical marijuana use?

Unfortunately, this question isn’t easy to answer, especially since the laws governing legal marijuana use now vary greatly from state to state. Marijuana is legal for medical use in at least 36 states, while 17 states have legalized it for recreational use. In the meantime, not all licensing agencies have kept up with changing attitudes toward marijuana, and many looming concerns about workplace impairment and public opinion about licensed professionals who use cannabis remain. All of these elements combine to make this an extremely complicated question.

bottom line

Drug testing is a big problem for marijuana entrepreneurs and consumers. Worries about losing a job keep people from using marijuana, even when prescribed by a doctor. In places where recreational use is legal, many people still do not buy cannabis on weekends or after work for fear of losing their jobs.

Can using medicinal cannabis jeopardize your license to practice? The answer is a loud “maybe”. If you’ve run into trouble with your state’s licensing agency over the legal use of medical cannabis, it’s not something to be taken lightly. After all, your livelihood depends on your license to practice medicine, and losing your license could cost you your career.

Having an experienced professional license attorney by your side can greatly improve the outcome and even save your license.

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