Arizona has some of the strongest protections for patients, said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
The Arizona Republic
Just days into her new job at a hospice in Cottonwood, Esther Shapiro claims she was fired because she uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia. (Rose Law Group
represented Shapiro in her claim and settlement against her employer.)
The Arizona Department of Health Services allows employers and law enforcement to check medical-marijuana cardholders. Find a complete list of employers who have accessed the state database at azcentral.com by going to azdatapages.com/marijuana/.
The hospice sent her for a drug test, and she warned them it would come back positive. Shapiro said the next day, a nurse manager told her the hospice’s insurance company thought she was too much of a liability.
“It was, basically, in my opinion, crap,” Shapiro told The Arizona Republic. “I was fired unlawfully.”
Across Arizona, employers and workers are settling into an uneasy relationship with medical marijuana. While a 2010 voter-approved law forbids employers from discriminating against medical-marijuana patients, the law provides no protection for employees who are impaired at work.
And a 2011 law gave some businesses additional authority to penalize workers if they are believed to be impaired at work.
Still, employers across Arizona are grappling with how to handle workers who are now legally permitted to use marijuana.
Also:
Lottery does little to clear air on pot sites/The Arizona Republic
If interested in discussing employment law matters, you can contact David Weissman, director of RLG’s Employment Law Department, dweissman@roselawgroup.com
If interested in discussing medical marijuana, you can contact Co-chair of the RLG Medical Marijuana Department Ryan Hurley, rhurley@roselawgroup.com
