RIGHT DECISION, WRONG ISSUE

Gary Ross had back pain, and he treated it with dope. When Ross
failed a drug test, his employer promptly fired him. Ross had
proof-positive that his drug use was legal. He had a medical
marijuana card authorizing him to use the drug for treatment of pain
from a back injury sustained while serving in the United States Air
Force. Despite his condition and his card -- and despite an injury
sustained while serving his country -- the California Supreme Court
on Thursday upheld the company's decision to fire him.

Marijuana arguably is a great drug for pain relief, and for some it's
safer and less mentally and physically draining than harsher
painkillers such as Vicodin and Percocet -- commonly prescribed by
doctors and dentists and seldom the topic of employee/employer disputes.

Based on an Associated Press report, the company -- Ragingwire, Inc.,
a small telecommunications firm in Sacramento -- argued that federal
law does not recognize marijuana deregulation in California and 11
other states, including Colorado. The U.S. Supreme Court declared in
2005 that state medicinal marijuana laws don't protect users from prosecution.

It's unfortunate the company based its case on a bad Supreme Court
ruling. The federal government has no business usurping state laws
that allow residents to use marijuana. If voters in Colorado and
California are on board with medicinal marijuana use, what gives the
central government a right to oppose them? Only bizarre and habitual
abuse of the interstate commerce clause. The U.S. Supreme Court's
disrespect for state marijuana laws nearly eliminates any pretense
that we're a nation of independent states.

However, just as states should have the right to allow marijuana use
as voters see fit, private companies have the right to reject it
among employees. Companies have rights to hire and retain only
drug-free workers. Companies have rights to hire only fat people, or
thin people, or people with high IQs who eat only organic food and
never use aspirin. The right of companies to carefully discern which
qualities are best and worst in employees must be maintained in the
interest of free and competitive enterprise. The voluntary
relationship between an employee and an employer is respected in the
First Amendment, which the courts have interpreted as a restriction
on governments to interfere with free association among adults. The
right to freely associate demands the right to freely disassociate,
which requires the right to hire and fire at will.

It's unfortunate that Ragingwire fired Ross for treating his pain.
But the decision, no matter how inane, belonged to Ragingwire. Good
decision? Maybe not. Legal decision? Absolutely.