COURT: WORKERS USING MEDICAL POT CAN BE FIRED

SAN FRANCISCO -- Employers can fire workers found to have used
medical marijuana even if it was legally recommended, the California
Supreme Court ruled Thursday in another setback for California in its
increasingly rancorous clash with federal law over medical pot use.

The high court upheld a Sacramento telecommunications company's
firing of a man who flunked a company-ordered drug test. Gary Ross
held a medical marijuana card authorizing him to legally use
marijuana to treat a back injury sustained while serving in the Air Force.

The company, Ragingwire Inc., successfully argued it rightfully fired
Ross because all marijuana use is illegal under federal law, which
does not recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11
other states.

"No state law could completely legalize marijuana for medical
purposes because the drug remains illegal under federal law," Justice
Kathryn Werdegar wrote for the 5-2 majority.

The court also said the so-called Compassionate Use Act passed by
California voters in 1996 had nothing to do with employment laws.

"Under California law, an employer may require preemployment drug
tests and take illegal drug use into consideration in making
employment decisions," Werdegar wrote.

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision declared that state medicinal
marijuana laws don't protect users from prosecution. The Drug
Enforcement Agency and other federal agencies have been actively
shutting down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the
state over the last two years and charging their operators with
serious felony distributions charges.

Ragingwire said it fired Ross because, among other reasons, it feared
it could be the target of a federal raid.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Western
Electrical Contractors Association Inc. had joined Ragingwire's case,
arguing that companies could lose federal contracts and grants if
they allowed employees to smoke pot.